Soldiers Log
by Chris000
Summary: The crew of the UNSC Indomitable discover a world parallel to their own, with a new enemy as well. Chapter 31: After the fire dies out, the guys are invited to Castle Acorn for an exciting announcement. Exciting enough to invite ONI along with them?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Hey guys! I have recently rewritten Soldier's Log with improved dialogue and retcons so that everything fits in with the rest of this timeline. Enjoy! I'll update the rest as I go along! **

**-C.**

* * *

SOLDIER'S LOG

Christopher R. Vennettilli

June 7th, 3235, 0120 h

Aboard UNSC super carrier Indomitable

Lt. C. J. Vennettili Soldier Log,

/Begin Entry/

_Thyris II looks beautiful out of the portholes. It's nothing but rock and ice, and rock and ice, and some more rocks maybe a bit more ice too. Since the war ended on Talahan, we have been drifting out here, looking for what, I wonder? I've been tasked with a patrol of the fusion engine couplings and primary drive manifolds. I know they say those things are shielded, but I get the chilling feeling of a reactor breach. Let the grease monkeys have their job._

_My eyes hurt. Need to get some more sleep, and I hope the drapes polarizing window works properly this time around. Took me two hours to get rid of the sun's afterimage. _

/End Entry/

Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli lay in his cot in the early hours. The daybreak from the system's diminutive red sun reflected off Thyris' icy surface and stirred him awake. He was never going to get any sleep. He needed to be up anyway; he was due to begin his shift in ten minutes. As if early-morning shift wasn't enough, he had an assigned overlook of repairs for the ship's number 1 fusion reactor. It was going to be a long day; A fusion reactor was big in it's own right. More to add was that this ship was a super carrier, five kilometers in length, which meant that the ship needed really big engines to supply the necessary push. Chris nearly fell asleep at his post, head slumping over the railing, threatening to toss his hat into a metallic abyss. If he were still a private, he'd be charged with dereliction of duty. Falling asleep at your post wasn't the worst crime one could do, but it wouldn't be a slap on the wrist. No on needed to know, and he could just claim he was 'thinking' or something creative like that.

Lunch followed with chef's surprise. He didn't touch that after it tasted like melted plastic and decided to buy a vendor snack instead, and compared to the 'food' he had prior, it was the best vendor snack he had eaten on this ship. Another boring day, on a boring ship, in boring space, until that night.

The ship alarm blared. The Lieutenant was awake instantly.

"_Attention, all hands! Confirmed contact with enemy ships. Personnel are to report to General Quarters and wait for further instructions_."

* * *

Admiral Gerome Tyler Andsworth was the commanding officer of the vessel. For thirty years, he had been at the helm of this magnificent ship, and had cared for it as if it was his own child. Andsworth had a long black moustache, piercing steel eyes, and the determination of a hundred men. He had been well decorated during the Malificent Campaigns in 3219, and later in 3233 when his ship served as an eye in the sky for forces on Talahan V.

Of the junior officers at his command, he found a couple of them extremely trustworthy: Lieutenants Junior Grade Velo, Jfaar, and Feedin.

"Mister Velo, what is the current formation of enemy vessels?" he said addressing the young man at Tactical.

"Well, sir, We're picking up multiple Covenant Remnant contacts, roughly a formation of 15 XCX-Class frigates by the looks of it. Holding position 151,000 kilometers off our prow." Andsworth cursed silently. Fifteen.

"Maple?" Freedin looked up. "Arm Archer missile pods D3 to G6."

Lieutenant Feedin nodded. "Aye, sir. Arming Archer pods."

The Covenant ships showed on radar, the closest being 80,000 km off the bow.

"Fire at will, Lieutenant!" Andsworth commanded pointing to the frigate. Rapid thumps echoed through the ship as the missiles streaked toward their targets, leaving trails of smoke behind them. The first few dozen missiles brought their shields down. The rest blew the ship to bits. Superheated shrapnel peppered the rest of the craft. Seraph fighters followed the frigates in, threatening to blow holes in the supercarrier's hull.

There had to be a carrier somewhere around here.

The 50 mm MLA autocannons blew apart the fightercraft. "Lieutenant Jaffa!" Andsworth said addressing his Navigations officer this time. "Select a randomized Jump vector and prepare to make micro jumps after that!"

Jfaar then went speeding over the keyboard. This was a Cole Jump, modeled after the first article in the old Cole Protocol. Jump first, and then make a bunch of smaller ones to confuse your enemy. "Randomized jump coordinates complete!" he reported.

"Get us out of here!" Andsworth commanded, not wanting to chance it with the Covenant. A supercarrier had jumped into the fray. At 27 kilometers long, destruction wasn't only a possibility here, it was guaranteed. "Lieutenant!"

A tear appeared in front of their view of Thyris II. Just as the ship's bow was just crossing the tear, the bridge crew noticed something. Instead of pitch black of the slipspace never-never-land, the tunnel was blinding white. The crew didn't argue and sent the ship in. Anything was better than here.

Jfaar noticed something. "Sir, Radiation levels are spiking. The jump drives are overpowering but no meltdown warning is being issued.

"Check again, Lieutenant."

"I did! The coolant injectors are functioning normally, and the drive integrity is at 100%."

Andsworth was in shock. Normally, the Shaw-Fujikawa drives would collapse from strain at the point of issuing a warning. But no damage? Interesting. The light didn't disappear after they got in. In fact, it got brighter, so bright, Andsworth had to shield his eyes.

"Sir, velocity increasing!" Jfaar called. The other bridge officers stopped their duties to listen, this had never happened before. "Admiral, we're accelerating towards _c_. We shouldn't be going this fast!" He called in shock.

Then it was gone. To replace it, a planet with emerald green forests, sapphire blue oceans and pearl white clouds. This place was totally alien, but the landmasses looked very familiar. " Lieutenant, I requested a randomized vector! We're back home!" Andsworth said.

Jeffa looked confused. "I did, sir. I mean I think I did. I'm sure I did! Besides, this isn't Earth!"

Andsworth looked dumbstruck. "It has to be! Look...!" It looked like Earth, was the same size as Earth and had the same atmospheric buildup with a nitrogen-oxygen combination. But no, Andsworth paused to examine the planet's full image, geological readouts showed a landmass that connected what should be Europe to what should be Northern Canada. South America looked broken apart on the arbitrary right and Australia was more round than it should've been. And to top it all off, an island looked as though it were floating across one of the continents. Floating? He chuckled, and then rubbed his eyes. No, It just couldn't be.

Chris was stunned. He looked out the window to see a planet that looked like Earth, but at the same time it wasn't Earth. He would know his home if he saw it, and what was in front of him was not where he grew up. One look at all the green was all he needed to see. He hurried to tell anyone who would listen and had a feeling that this planet was more than it appeared to be.

Time passed on the bridge. Andsworth had ordered multiple scans of the planet, including but not limited to tectonic activity, barometric pressure, and electromagnetic frequency checks. Everything checked out and seemed to reinforce the fact that they were looking at Earth, just not the same one they used to know. When one of the bridge officers announced that there were signs of structures on the planet and even a radio signal emanating from the North American- like continent, he decided to establish his presence. He ordered a COM channel be opened to the planet.

"To anyone receiving this transmission, this is the UNSC Indomitable broadcasting on all Alpha Priority channels. This is Admiral Gerome Andsworth of the 7th Sol Battlegroup. Please respond! We are low on oxygen and supplies. Please respond, over."

There was silence for a few minutes.

He was ready to give up and look around when there was a message over the radio. It was so shocking that nobody spoke, "_Uh...roger that UNSC Indomitable, this is RAF Military Detection Array. It's good to see you at last, sir_!"


	2. Chapter: 2 The Encounter

Chapter 2: The Encounter  
June 7th, 3234, 0930 hours  
Unknown Planet  
UNSC Indomitable

Lieutenant Velo was the first to answer. He was dumbstruck at the words but kept cool.

"Sir, the voice is real and, I can't believe it! It's coming from a ship on the planet. Sir, requesting permission to reply to message?"

Andsworth nodded and said, "Permission granted."

Velo opened the COM according to the frequencies of the last message. "This is Lieutenant Jack Velo of the UNSC super carrier, _Indomitable_, do you read me over?"

The voice appeared again,

"_Roger, Lieutenant Velo, This is Captain Jan DeLand of the Mobian cruiser RSS_ Dignity."

Velo was aghast. The Voice had a name that sounded like she was from Earth, or another Earth Colony. But this was an undocumented system. Velo spent 10 minutes on the COM, until she shuddered and said to Andsworth, "They're requesting permission to board the Indomitable, sir."

Andsworth didn't even hesitate. "Not so fast, Lieutenant, I want to talk to them."

"Aye, aye sir." Velo said.

Tactical Lieutenant Jfaar was the first to spot something coming out the atmosphere. "Sir, ship coming out of the atmosphere!"

The Admiral nodded. "That must be our new friends."

The ship was small. It wouldn't be called a cruiser by Human standards, but rather a glorified destroyer. It was streamlined with two wings that went from the middle of the ship to the engines. Two dorsal fins came up 10 meters with the bridge nestled in between them.

The Captains voice came up over the com. "_I can see that you don't trust us_." She said with the hint of smugness in her calm voice. It was a perfect California accent.

"Just a formality, really. Strategically speaking, I have no idea who you are and yet we have no trouble communicating with one another. I'm curious." Andsworth said.

"_Very, well. What would you like to know_?"

"Simple question. Where are we and who are you?"

A sigh came over the com. "_Very well, but I can't answer that here_."

The Admiral cocked an eyebrow, "why is that, Captain?"

The answer was opposite to what the captain expected. "_I prefer to answer that on your ship, Sir. In front of your crew, if you'll allow it_."

The Admiral was impressed by this race. He hoped it was human, or something that at least resembled a human. They followed the same chain of command, same accent, same customs; he had no reason to think otherwise.

Jfaar announced, "No stress patterns visible, sir. There's nothing in her voice to indicate a lie. Either they were expecting some suckers to come here, or else they're telling the truth."

Andsworth nodded. "Boarding permission granted, Captain. Bring your ship close to docking ring 1 and await further orders."

DeLand had traces of happiness in her voice. "_Thank you, sir. We'll be right there_." The COM snapped off.

* * *

Chris had managed to convince quite a few people; everyone on his deck except Major Everly. The Major had brushed aside Chris's message as combat endued hysteria. They passed a window and then he pointed hurriedly out the window. There was a ship passing the window. The following marines stared wide-eyed at the approaching blue-silver ship. As it attached to a docking ring a deck up. Chris hurried to the elevator to se what was coming out. It would be against orders if any were given.

Even Major Everly had stared at the ship in amazement. The elevator moved up quickly to the docking deck. Whatever came out, He would keep it under lock and key. He could get a real pat on the back for this, maybe even a promotion. The docking arm gave a small *_thunk_* as the ship latched on to the other.

The dock master was sitting in a chair above the empty dry-dock outside half a meter of solid Plexiglas. He had quite a hard time finding a docking ring attachment to fit the ship. Even with a Universal Adaptor, a system that looks through dozens of rings made to fit any UNSC or civilian ships. Until he had a fit: an ancient circular hatch.

A perfect fit.

Whoever these people were, they weren't much for modern technology. Usually, a greeting party waits for a new crew to come. All he saw was one Marine. Maybe this was different. Maybe. A thump came as the ship latched to the other. The hatch opened and atmosphere hissed.

Chris waited until he heard the pressure bell sound, signaling the link complete, then he marched in. "Alright then, I have orders to take anyone that boards to the b-."

Chris didn't continue. He couldn't his mouth gaped as he looked at the boarders, then averted his gaze, then said. "OK, lets go, then."

He added hastily, turning around. He couldn't bear to look in the newcomer's face, because it looked like something out of a comic book. The newcomer had the face of a fox, but the body of a human female. Once in the elevator to the bridge, he wondered what was going on, the other person spoke.

"I didn't catch your name, are you the admiral?"

Chris was aware enough to shake his head.

"Oh I see; are we going to see him?"

A nod. Yes.

"So what is your name?"

Chris didn't answer that one. He wasn't quite sure how to strike up a conversation with an alien race. Then again, He guessed that anyone in his current position would feel that way.

Then he realized he was the first one.

Chris entered the bridge. The bridge crew responded the same way as he did. But no one was more surprised than the Admiral, who stared at the creature with wide eyes and didn't say a word.

Chris just stood and held a salute until the admiral addressed him.

The creature held out a hand and said, "Captain Jan DuLand, of the RSS _Dignity_, A pleasure to meet you Admiral Gerome Andsworth."

The admiral shook her hand gingerly, thankful that this alien creature was not intending to strip the flesh off heir bones.

The Admiral seemed to come to his senses and returned Chris's salute. Chris dropped his aching arm silently sighing.

"Pleasure to meet you Captain. I'm sure the Lieutenant here," gesturing at Chris who stood motionless, "was well enough to greet you as you boarded?"

DuLand frowned. "He didn't seem quite up to it."

Andsworth gave Chris a look that would've blasted through Titanium-A battleplate. Chris flinched looking furious with himself.

"But," DuLand said, noticing how Chris reacted, "he wasn't the first to act like this. You would be too if you were just greeted by a 5 foot tall anthropomorphic female."

Andsworth mulled this over in his head. "I guess, so. Sorry, Lieutenant."

"No problem, Sir."

"What do you mean, not the first?" The Admiral asked. DuLand was exited, this story was only told to small children.

"That can be explained when the rest of my crew comes aboard."

There was more? Chris wondered. How much more? Then before he could stop himself, he said, "Sir, requesting permission to gather up the rest of the Captain's crew." And to his great surprise...

"Permission granted, Lieutenant. Make it quick."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir." Chris said and left.

Andsworth turned to the COM station, sent out a ship-wide call saying, "Attention to everyone, all off-duty units report to the briefing room 10 minutes from now. Andsworth out."

Over in the other ship, Chris was amazed by how many species there were. He saw felines, canines, and even avian species. Were they a collective race like the Covenant, bound together by some solid role or goal? He noted that the ship construction was very similar to Human vessels, although they seemed dated. Computer screens seemed older, not as many volumetric displays, and above all, no AI units. That's what bothered the young Lieutenant. How far behind was this new race? He saw a guard carrying what he was sure was a G36 rifle! "Too far." he said to himself. The aliens looked at him as if they couldn't believe their eyes. An Ensign (with a single golden bar, no less) whispered to another crewmember excitedly. Others seemed angry.

"Alright! General call going out here! Can anybody understand my language?"

Hands shot up. Good, but surprising.

"Wow. OK, your Captain has called you over. All off-duty personnel are to assemble in our briefing room. I'll be escorting groups, and organizing others to get you there safely." He noticed that they didn't budge. "_COME ON, WE'RE ON A DEADLINE, PEOPLE! LET'S GO_!"

The creatures hopped to. They started to organize. Chris smiled to himself. If there was one thing that was universal, it was a good hustle.

* * *

The call was made and the people on the Dignity filed out of the airlock according to rank. All of them went into the briefing room. Humans sat on one side, while the others were on the opposite, clearly in not wanting to sit next to anyone that didn't look like them. Racial segregation was still at work.

Andsworth was there amongst the mumbling at the podium with DuLand next to him. He then made his announcement:

"For those of you that don't know me," he addressed the anthro people, "I am Admiral Gerome Andsworth of the UNSCDF, The United Nations Space Command Defense Force." At the mention of the words 'UNSC' the furries started chattering quietly. Had they heard of them somehow? Did UNSC stand for something else to them?

DuLand spoke then.

"My name is Captain Jan Genevieve DuLand," addressing humans this time.

"_She's French_?" Andsworth said to himself.

"I am part of The Royal Navy, one of our military branches, and I believe you have some questions for us?"

No doubt. The curious look on the Marines and navy personnel made it clear.

DuLand sighed and said. "Very well, but before we ask anything, I must tell you a tale of how we came to be, just to give you some perspective on how we got here and how we know about you guys." Behind her back, some of her men started groaning.

She took no notice of it.

They must've heard this plenty of times, but it needed to be heard once more.

So then, she told the humans everything.


	3. Chapter 3 The History

June 8th 2285 2000 h

Dr. Matthew Mobius's office

Boston

Generations before the events of this story there was once a scientist named doctor Matthew Mobius, a famed scientist of his day. By the age of 26, he had received a Nobel Prize for advanced physics. Now, he was designing a great invention that'll bring humanity farther out to the stars, the jumpgate. The invention he'd been working on for five years. With his progress he could finish within next month! And he thought to himself, if he did this right, he'd get his name written in stone even! But this jumpgate was large, so large that 10 colony ships would be able to pass through. The beauty of it is that this was a government funded operation so he didn't have to pay for it. If it wasn't, he'd be out of a job and a home. Another few more days…

A week later, the jumpgate was finished. The gate was as large as 5 lunar colonies

including Luna City which was an astounding 20 square kilometers. The gate's outer edges glowed blue as electricity spiked through them. The general population thought that the gate wouldn't be safe. But all they would do for starters would point it at Epsilon Irdani and be there within a minute, especially with slipspace in production from what they heard, this would put it to shame. So, a fleet of 10 colony ships with 100,000 citizens each headed through. With Mobius in the lead, he would colonize a new planet and be famous thorough the known galaxy. His confidence lasted until they entered the gate. Radiation spiked, they went faster and faster, into blinding white light. Then, they were never seen again.

June 13th 2285 0150 h

Unknown space

Mobius awoke after their third day in drift. He was fully awake with a startling discovery. They were orbiting over an earth-sized planet with looked untouched. No cities, no pollution, and he was sure it was Earth, just different. Yes, it was different since the landmasses were considerably different. But was it safe. Back on earth, when the Alpha Centauri system was colonized, the planet looked like a lush land, but in reality, those images were caused by interference from gasses in the atmosphere. But this seemed real. The computer came out with a solution. A hydrogen oxygen atmosphere? Just like Earth.

Yes, they were somewhere that would support human life! "Tell everyone to get the landing craft ready! We're home at last!" The order was almost carried out until a storm hit. The lightning was unlike anything they've ever seen. It passed through the entire fleet. Inside something amazing happened. The people were carrying animal specimens to populate the new world. The lightning connected with both humans and animals, swapping DNA. Both simultaneously so both humans and animals were infected. After this everyone calmed down like nothing happened. A day later, the Humans officially colonized the planet known as Mobius named in the Doctor's honour.

Weeks later though, things started to happen. First, the specimens started to grow, unusually, abnormally as a matter of fact. And they stared to change also. The best scientists say they were bypassing erectus and going straight to the sapien form.

And what was more. Everyone started to get furrier, way furrier, handfuls then came.

At long last, Dr Mobius died of a massive premature heart attack one night at age 31.

Without their leader to sustain them with confidence, the new furry people began to drift apart. A year later, the transformation was complete. All of the furry people we're known as Mobians after their own planet. All in different tribes.

February 7th 2289

Mobius

It was a time of war. This was the year of the first Mobian Civil War. During the past few years the planet had been a command government. With this, the civilians up rose, attacking each other. Millions died. After this, a Mobian squirrel by the name of Nicholas Acorn took the title of the first King of Mobius.

Back on Earth, The Shaw-Fujikawa drives have been perfected and humanity started colonizing the Orion Arm. When the UNSC found out that the Doctor wasn't responding

They started sending out search teams through the gate. The same thing happened when they got through. Only the cloud dispersed over the years. Allowing only few to get infected. Many more not. Once on the planet, a horrible tragedy took place, the infected started losing their thumbs. Since Mobians haven't heard from the humans for years so the second Mobian war broke out. Known as the Overlander war because overlanders lived above ground. Thousands more died. From then on Mobians and Overlanders were enemies

March 19th 2552

Earth

The Human/Covenant War started to be a problem. Now, with the discovery of Halo, Captain Jacob Keyes of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn had hundreds of marines to control.

AI Cortana told Jacob that 12 covenant CCS-Battleships were approaching. Keyes breathed deep then told everyone to scramble to their stations. He then turned to Cortana, who fizzled into existence on a holo-tank. "Lets give our old friends a warm welcome."

Then the order came to wake up the special guest, The Last Spartan.

A new ruler came after the last, Jonathon Acorn V. There were always more Overlanders than the last year. Then more after that. He feared that this war would continue for a long time.

August 12th 3200

Mobius

When King Maximilion Acorn had just started his term, A ship had come once again from space. It was a Human shape from what his grandfather had told them. Humans were what they were a long time ago. Now they were back. No cloud to distract them.

Once on the ground, A human was inside. He was an obese man with a brown prickly moustache. There were also other humans inside. One claimed to be his brother and the other an older woman. They said the rest of their crew had died. The Man's name was Julian Kintobor. And after realizing the Mobian's situation, believed he could turn the tides of the war.

September 21st 3234

Earth

"ATTENTION, THIS IS A REMINDER TO CITIZENS OF NEW YORK THAT AN OFFICIAL UNSC DRAFTING WILL TAKE PLACE TO ANYONE OVER 18!"

The citizens gasped. All young men and women would be drafted into the UNSC. Christopher Vennettilli, a 19 year old at the time, knew that he would go too. His parents wouldn't grieve. He had none. His parents were killed when a plane had exploded because of a fuel leak. He needed to go, to protect Earth.

Once of in space on the UNSC frigate _Poseidon_, Chris looked out of a window just as the passed by a trio of MAC stations to go to Alpha Centauri, the new UNSC training facility after Reach got glassed in 2552, he saw a floating ring just over the moon. This was a warpgate that a famous scientist used to go beyond the stars. He was never heard from again. The gate was closed down. And he hoped that it stayed closed.

June 8th 3235

Over Mobius

The Captain finished her tale. The human crew was astounded about the planet's history. Humans _were_ Mobians? It was hard to swallow but yes, it fit in. That explains why they disappeared for such a long time. Chris remembered the gate. He never realized it had worked. But where were they exactly? Mobius wasn't enough. Where in the galaxy?

DuLand seemed to read their minds. "Maybe we can explain better when we're back on the planet. I suspect that your men would like some shore leave?" The crew tried to put on their best 'no-thanks-we're-fine' looks but Andsworth saw right through it, and smiled. Very well captain. I could use a bit of fresh air myself. May I add that our ship isn't designed to land in that atmosphere." DuLand shrugged, "Perhaps we can offer some passage to the planet on our ship. Shuttles can be arranged for whoever we can't carry." Andsworth nodded. "Very well, we'll do that. You heard her men lets haul your sorry behinds off this tub!"


	4. Chapter 4 The Hero, Princess and Genius

Chapter 4: The Hero, The Genius, The Princess  
June 8th 3234 1230 h local time  
Mobius surface  
Lt. Christopher Vennettilli Soldier Log

/Begin Entry/

_We landed on Mobius for the first time. It was beautiful. My grandfather told me stories that his grandfather told and so on that Earth was a beautiful, lush, less polluted planet. Basically from what I saw down there, His stories came true for me. Nothing to see for miles on the way down on the lead shuttle but miles upon miles of forests and oceans. It was hard to see that Mobius, a planet engulfed by war more than once, was this gorgeous._

The pilot, who's race I couldn't tell because of a full face flight visor, told the platoon of soldiers in the back that we'd be landing in a place called the Knothole Kingdom. I mean, come on! First we turn out to be the ancestors of these people and now we find out that we'd be landing in a place named after a place on a tree? What a day I have been having. Wait, I see lights ahead. I can't believe it, it's a city, not a grubby little kingdom! This planet is more than I expected!

/End Entry/

Andsworth was the first to step out of the shuttle to smell the sweet Mobian air. It was good. The ship's air scrubbers have been filtering the air for a month and it started to gag him. This was something entirely new. It was fresh air, not smoggy, not choked by toxic chemicals, but sweet

He felt like he was in paradise.

The sunlight was shining on him and his troops. The admiral wore a white dress uniform while his men wore camouflaged fatigues. He smiled and appreciated the sun in the sky, and it was clear that the men here did too.

The only on without a helmet was Chris. He wore a combat cover that he had since basic training. It allowed his scalp to breathe and it didn't cause helmet hair every time he took it off. Against regulations, perhaps, but nobody crunched him on it since Basic. His hair stood out at just beyond regulation length. Again, not a huge deal at this point in time since people we acting leniant since the end of the war. He stood with other officers separate from the NCOs and the enlisted boys. Unlike the other soldiers who stood with their squads, all of Chris' squad had gotten killed. Two left the planet, but they went missing. As far as he knew, he was the sole survivor. he wandered around, just trying to look like he had a purpose here. Someone should have reassigned him to a new squad within 5th Battalion, but there was no time for that now.

DuLand was already on the runway to greet them. She wore a navy blue flight suit with her hair tied in a braid and a ship's cap on her head. On it was stitched 'C-3000 RSS _Dignity_' "Glad you could meet us Admiral. We have a little trip to make before we do anything now."

Andsworth nodded and said over the light roar of a commercial flight taking off, "Where are we going then, Captain?"

She pointed north. "To the far end of the city to where Castle Acorn stands."

The Admiral nodded. Ah of course. A kingdom needs a castle.

"Ma'am, permission to ask a question?" Lieutenant Vennettilli piped up, curious.

DuLand nodded. "Permission granted, Lieutenant. Speak your mind."

"Does this kingdom actually have a king or queen? Because back home we have constitutional monarchies like in the United Kingdom."

she smiled and nodded. "Why yes we do. A king and queen and a princess. We had a prince who has recentlyâ€¦"

_What? Died? Taken ill?_

"Not been able to be with us." She answered.

-

Chris rode through the city on a Sidewinder jeep that was a troop transport. The city was alive with movement. CafÃ©s, restaurants, stores, homes too. It was hard to believe that these people shared a common ancestry with humans, if not slightly removed by a thousand years years. Their technology was a bit behind, but the look of their work was unmistakably Human.

The passerby's looked in awe at the camouflaged jeeps as they followed in a convoy to the center of the city. The roads looked the same as on Earth. Mostly primitive pavement types. Citizens whispered to one another, pointed. A couple children ran, screaming about 'Overlanders', but it was quiet mostly. It was scaring the Humans.

Andsworth was ahead in a standard UNSC APC used to carry important personnel to specific locations for diplomatic reasons. He had it easy. Those in the back and marching behind had to do without the climate control and fancy water. The Sidewinders were unarmed but in case of an attack, the marines carried BR75 battle rifles and MP507 SMGs with them. There was not a soul that dared move as these aliens made their way through the city.

-

The castle stood before them, made completely out of stone on the outside. Flags flapped magnificently in the air, and light reflected off of the stained-glass windows. This entire structure looked hundreds of years old, going back to the Mobian Dark Ages at least. The convoy halted at the huge main doors. The Humans disembarked. Andsworth collection of men went inside with him.

Andsworth strode in with his Marines behind them. Ahead was what looked like the throne room. Two figures sat on thrones in the distance. Chris made sure his hair was smooth and his stubble was respectable. When he was 12, his parents told him that first impressions were important. Never look ragged in front of royalty let alone your commanding officer, that was his philosophy.

They were both squirrels. At least they looked like squirrels. They were too close to make an accurate guess. Two guards stood beside them. Both hefting ceremonial spears. Andsworth bowed. The rest of the marines saluted.

The woman on the left said calmly, "Rise."

The Admiral did so. The Marines still stood at attention.

"Your majesties," Andsworth said. "My name is Admiral Gerome Andsworth. I come from the planet Earth and I have to say thank you for giving us permission to land on your world." He said in his best 'people-voice' he used when talking to people when it wasn't on a bridge of a ship.

The man on the left said, "The world you come from is something of legend. Indeed we are standing upon the ruins of the place you call Earth, but this was some time ago, Admiral Gerome Andsworth. Regardless we welcome you to our kingdom."

The old man nodded. "Thank you, your highness! My men are only but a small portion of the group that was stranded here." Andsworth added gesturing to the Marines and Navy. They straightened and stared into space, not making eye contact with the Royals.

They both nodded the male saying "Your men look most disciplined. They seem to be the best in their fields. But forgive us, we haven't addressed ourselves yet. I am King Maximillian Acorn, King of Knothole. This this is my wife Queen Alicia. Our daughter is not quite present at the moment. Sally?"

Another anthro walked into the room. She around 20 years old. She had the looks of both of her parents, inherieting the red hair and the facial characteristics of a squirrel. She was dressed in a formal gown that had a tinge of whitish blue. She seemed to like blue since the dress was blue, her eyes were blue the hair braid holding her shoulder-length red hair back was blue, and even her eyeshadow was blue.

Yowza. Girl has obsessions.

The marines saluted as she walked by. She asked a few questions. She then stopped in front of Vennettilli. "Soldier, state your name and rank."

"Ma'am, First Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli."

"First Lieutenant? You look a little young. How old are you?"

"Twenty-one, ma'am."

She observed him for a second, showing no emotion, looking at everything. His hat, his eyes, the state of his uniform, his armor, his gun, and the way he held it. "A pleasure to meet you Lieutenant."

She didn't extend a hand or anything. Chris realized it must have been protocol never to merge with the fighting class. The Marines were instructed to meet everyone else. Two more figures came out. One was what Andworth suspected as a blue colored hedgehog with a spiky haircut and a slightly shorter fox anthro entered the room deep in conversation. They stopped and looked at the newcomers in surprise.

No doubt they weren't informed. The hedgehog's look was of surprise as he walked up to the princess and engaged in deep conversation. The hedgehog pointed to what Chris assumed was the eagle symbol on his hat and armor.

"...No, no, that's not important now, Sonic." Sally hissed.

"But _Sal_!"

"Sonic! We'll discuss this in private!"

Sonic grumbled and walked away, hands folded behind his back.

"That's our good friend, Olgi-"

"My name is SONIC!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed. He was unaware of the soldiers who were observing him. Did he notice them, or was he choosing not to?

After Sonic came the fox, who's name was Miles "Tails" Prower. He seemed to be a bright young kid. Miles had a remarkable pair of tails which rotated like that of a helicopter's rotors, if that was at all possible. Against physics, he was able to lift his body upwards and coast around the room, preforming tricks that would only be replicated in a zero-G gymnastics floor. He was also very intelligent, claiming his IQ being somewhere around 300. His talk was wasted on some people who couldn't understand his advanced technobabble. Too many equations for the groundpounders, but the Naval personnel caught on for longer than the Marines did. In the end, everyone was left in the dust.

"Those fellas at Section 3 could use a smart kid like you." Andsworth said looking the young lad over.

Tails smiled, but said, "I'm afraid I couldn't accept. I know nothing about your people." There was curiosity in his eyes. Something that every self-respecting explorer had: the hunger to learn and educate themselves. It was something the Admiral admired in a living creature.

Sonic seemed to have the ability to travel faster than he seemed capable of through unknown means. They noted this when he ran over to the princess to talk to her. Andsworth looked to Vennettilli and chuckled, then looked back at the thrones where all antros watched them leave.

Chris then said, "Begging the Admiral's pardon, but what's the problem, sir?"

Andsworth smiled wider and said, "You'll see."


	5. Chapter 5 The Doctor

Chapter 5: The Doctor  
June 9th, 3234, 0210 hours  
Mobius, Low Orbit  
UNSC _Indomiatble_

"Sir please forgive me for saying this but, WHAT!" Chris exclaimed after a private staff meting onboard the Indomitable. It was concerning the crew's position now that they were out of Earth's communication. Modern technology just hadn't evolved yet for Trans-How-Far-They-Were Communication.

Andsworth just sat down and smiled. "That's right Lieutenant, we're reassigning you."

Chris just couldn't believe it. He had been one of the senior officers for almost a month, and he was sending him to a new unit? Outrageous. "Sir, respectfully, you can't do this to me!"

The admiral looked at him sternly. "Lieutenant, the UNSC stands for something, and that is the protection of those who want it. We, by profession, are guardians of freedom and protectors of the people. Are you trying to say that you don't want to protect people?"

"No sir."

"Answer my question clearly."

"Sir, I do want to protect people. Human, Alien, anybody who is in trouble."

Andsworth nodded "Yes, given our current situation and that the people here are very human despite their outer shells, they are asking for professionals. You are here to protect them. To do this, we are assigning you to be a bodyguard. We're calling them Protectors."

It was a bodyguard job. The admiral could say it in as many ways as he wanted it, but it didn't change the context.

But Chris had no experience as a royal guard. He had been protecting VIPs on Talahan before this, but none of them were near royalty; the most important were businessmen.

"We determined that you are ready for a chance to protect someone other than the peoples of Earth, and maybe you could go up in life after this job is over. Now I'll remind you that you're still part of the UNSC no matter what world we are in. Do you understand?"

"I understand, sir." Chris said crisply.

Andsworth tapped a pen on his desk. "Back in the hall, Vennettilli, I saw that you seemed like the best match for a job like this. The princess was interested in you. I could see that. She inquired about your rank at your age, which I will admit will raise an eyebrow anywhere, but it's clear that you were seen as a valuable part of the team. I should know, she requested you."

"S...she did?" the surprised young man said.

Andsworth nodded. "Yes. Princess Sally is curious about us and where we come from. She wants to know more about us and Earth. We believe you can bring some of our culture and history into this place."

"Yessir, I understand." Chris said nodding.

"Very good then. You are dismissed, Marine."

The Lieutenant saluted, turned, and walked out of the room wondering just how much his life changed after this brief meeting.

-

It turns out that three other Marines were assigned to the position of Protector as well, all of them by invitation. PFC's Norman Hecks, Corporal Vere Kersiac, and PFC Hank Geri. All seemed very enthusiastic guarding a royal member. What confused Chris was why the Royals were interested in soldiers with a low rank. He realized then he was on a bit of a high horse and getting a big head over his rank. He had to remind himself that one can make an impact and not have the bars of an LT on their shoulder.

This had been a major improvement on the part of the other men. They were excited about seeing a new race personally.

"I hope that we get a pay rise for this job" Hecks told Geri. "I would tell my girlfriend this, but I don't know why I can't call her. COMs must be out or something."

Corporal Kerisac just got promoted recently so he wasn't used to commanding the two grunts. "They had better. Or else I'm gonna sue."

"Shut up, you three. We wanna make a good impression on her Highness." Chris barked to the lesser marines.

"Sorry, sir." They all replied.

Kersiac leaned to Hecks. "What do you think is _his_ problem?" he whispered.

"No idea." Hecks breathed back.

They passed the giant double doors and made their way to the staircase where the keep was. "So sir, how old is this princess exactly?" Hecks asked while going upward.

"18-19-20 from the looks of it? I don't know, I wasn't paying attention." Chris answered.

After presenting their identification and signed orders to a guard, they entered the room.

They found their charge standing in a bedroom, but not dressed as fancy as she was before. In fact, she didn't look royal at all, she looked... like a teenager in fact. The room around her did not suggest a trim and proper young lady lived here. There was a mirror, an armoire, a four-poster bed, but there were also posters of rock bands, a laptop computer and a music player on a counter. It looked like a regular person lived here.

Sally Acorn was wearing only a long blue vest which stretched past the hipline. She also wore blue boots that were made out of some sort of leather or polymer. What really caught their attention was that she was wearing absolutely nothing else. He decided not to... stare... and saluted quickly, his men following suit.

But then she said in a calm, amused voice, "Don't worry about it, I'm not a perfection freak."

Chris dropped his hand in utter shock. This never happened. Ever. "Your Highness, we're your personal guard." He was still slightly taken aback about how laid back she was outside of the throne room.

She sighed. "Mom and Dad will never give me a peaceful moment. That's the price to pay I guess. Well Lieutenant, Marines, I guess I'd better give you the grand tour."

Great, a grand tour of a old castle.

_I'm gonna enjoy this_. Chris thought sarcastically. By the quiet groaning behind him, his men were thinking the same thing.

-

It turned out that the 'old castle' was a mirror of 'The Hive' which was a HIGHCOM base back on Earth in Sydney, Australia. It did retain many historic looks to it, and it did feel like a castle, but there were many high-tech goodies hidden away like computer access ports, holographic interfaces, laser-grad security stations, among other things.

Near the end of the tour. They were at a giant room with a screen of the geography of Mobius. The men felt deeply homesick looking at it "This is the monitor we use to scan the planet for any type of trouble. Are you guys aright?"

Chris realized that he was staring at the map. "Oh, we're fine. Ahem, What kind of trouble?"

She nodded and explained, "Well, we're a peaceful people. We respect the environment, most of our technology is clean, dependable yet complex, but that doesn't mean that we don't have enemies. Since the war ended a decade or so ago, we've only had one major enemy that considers us a threat."

At the end of that sentence, an alarm klaxon rang out and the screen went red. A man appeared onscreen. He had a large moustache which was gingery brown and spiky, round glasses and a bald head with goggles on the top. It just might have been the look, but the Humans had the impression that they were looking at a large egg!

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite little batch of fuzzballs!" He said in a faux-pleasant tone.

Sally looked angry and said under her breath, "Doesn't this guy ever quit?"

_Ah, a repeat offender_, the Lieutenant reasoned.

The man, who looked kind of like a scientist, leaned back on his chair, steepled his fingers and smile. "Now if you're wondering what it is I am up to today, that's for me to know and you to find out if you'd like to carelessly throw your lives away! I'll give you a hint though, It'll start a bang of things! Toodles!" The COM snapped off.

Sally looked to the Marines, "Sorry we can't finish but we've gotta go. We'll be back." She went off down the hall.

Chris chuckled. "'With a bang'? That was the best he could come up with?"

-

Vennettilli sat at a table in the dining hall with nothing to do, when someone walked up to him. He turned to look with tired eyes. It was the fox he saw yesterday.

The fox stared at him, smiling. "Hi." He said.

Chris laughed. "Hey, junior, aren't you a bit young to be around here?"

The fox, named Tails if he remembered, also laughed and said, "Most people think that about me before they listen to what I have to say."

Chris sat up straighter. "About what?"

Tails looked content, "About how you got here."

Chris was now sitting as straight as could be, but still unconvinced. "Wait, you can correctly explain, to me, how an entire ship arrived at this place, and how we can get back. Okay, I've had a long day; I need a good laugh. You have 10 minutes to convince me you know a thing or two. I need a scientist, someone trained in the fine arts of words and numbers."

Tails looked content, slapping his gloved hands together, he then said, "I havent had a fresh audience in years! Sit down, because this is going to be a little bit heavy to explain."


	6. Chapter 6 The Theory

**This one's short. I wrote this one a while back when EVERYTHING I wrote was short, but it should explain what I'm getting at for the central plot of the story**

Chapter 6: The Theory  
June 9th, 3234, 1715 hours  
Mobius  
Castle Acorn

"So tell me Chris, how exactly did you get here?" Tails asked pulling a laptop out of a bag and flicking it on.

Chris told the tale of how his friends on the _Indomitable_ had gone through the alternate space-time realm of slipspace.

From what Tails told him, the Mobians had not mastered slipspace travel yet and only have gone to their neighboring planet, New Mars, and even then it was mostly done by probes. Plans for colonizing it had been discussed by the senate, but it was clear that a decision like that would be stuck in a political filibister for quite some time.

This surprised Chris. Then again, they have been severed from humanity for almost a millennium, he didn't expect them to get very far, but it was just shocking how little technology they had. It was like he was peering back in time when Humanity became a Space Faring civiliation in the 1950s.

"I have something to show you." The fox said. "It might be important that you see this."

He punched some keys on his laptop and opened a file. He turned it to Chris and showed him a slowly rotating jewel that was a shade of green. Small columns of data were scrolling along the screen's edges; too small to be legible.

Then in a lower left hand corner, six more jewels accompanied it, each a different color: Red, blue, purple, white, pink, and yellow.

_How could such small jewels be important? Do they have some sort of magic power or something_? Chris wondered.

Tails spoke as if he could read the Human's thoughts. "These are Chaos Emeralds." he said gesturing to brilliant cut emeralds. "Their power is unmatched. These emeralds are natural which means that they were always here. An archeological dig in 2300 showed where they came from."

A digital photo came up showing the emeralds in buried impact craters. The photo was dated in 2300; an eternity ago.

"Now there's a brain of this system of emeralds if you will."

"A brain?" Chris asked confused.

Another picture came up, this time showing a giant emerald well larger than the ones seen before.

"This is the most powerful we refer to as the Master Emerald." Miles explained.

Master was right. This emerald was five times the size of the others, and as the old saying went, bigger is better.

"Now my theory is this: You must've crossed a dimensional line to get here."

Chris was stunned at this short-yet-effective theory. "Crossed dimensions?"

Tails nodded. "10 years ago when our scientists tested the emeralds on Jump Drive engines, the engines disappeared as soon as they started up near the emeralds. We were originally using the research to develop Faster than Light travel, but this little mistake set us back a few decades. They weren't seen out of the planet's atmosphere either. So they must've broken though a universal gateway to get to some other dimension."

This evidence was reasonable. 10 years ago, there had been a disturbance near Draco II. An unidentified hulk had appeared over the planet. However, with no makings to show where they came from the drives were blown up on the spot. The UN feared that it was a Covenant bomb set to blow up a major population center on the planet and kill millions like on Draco III in the 2500s.

"We believe that you came here by use of Chaos Emeralds in your universe."

"There are Chaos Emeralds in our universe too?"

Tails nodded again. "Yes there are. Actually my theory is that there are emeralds in a lot of universes. Yours, ours, unlimited possibilities."

"Hang on." Chris said, opening a history folder on his personal computer, did a search on emeralds or jewels with strange powers, found a folder dates 2552, and opened it. Inside there were cases of 'Forerunner Crystals' exactly as Tails had described them to Chris. "Would these fit the description?"

"Close enough." Miles said after analyzing them. "They seem to match the physical description and metaphysical properties."

"So you mean that these things that Doctor Halsey found were Chaos Emeralds as well?"

"I suppose so, but I have absolutely no idea who Doctor Halsey is so your example is a bit diluted on me."

"Seven hundred years ago, Humanity was in a war for our survival. We found jewels of sorts that altered reality in Slipspace, our form of FTL travel. This doctor, Doctor Catharine Halsey suggested that these Forerunner Crystals, which were created by a hyper-advanced civilization, were capable of great powers. Would you agree to that?"

"Speaking from first-hand experience, Human, I think I can agree with you."

"Doesn't that mean that only 6 emeralds are left in our universe?" To his surprise, Tails shook his head.

"Well, for starters I have no idea how many Chaos Emeralds there are in an entire solar system let alone a universe. I only used seven because these were the ones that we have on Mobius. There could be countless ones among the stars. Secondly, the emeralds don't stay apart forever. They will eventually find each other again, weather it's natural or if someone goes out and looks for them. I also speculate there is an Emerald in your moon and on the planet you were near last. Doctor Mobius' fateful flight was said to originate at this gate when he activated his special warpgate. Likewise, Thyris II might have an environmental condition where it served as a catalyst for trans-universal travel."

Chris absorbed these facts like a sponge, but didn't understand any of it. He just nodded as if he got everything Tails had said. He requested a copy of their conversation with the essential facts and sent it to Andsworth back on the Indomitable. The heavy numbers he sent to the R&D guys on Deck 18.

He looked at Tails then said. "Tails, great theory my friend but may I ask you one question only?"

Tails tilted his head and smiled, "Sure Lieutenant. what would you like to know?"

"Well I understand how we got here but, umâ€¦ how are we gonna get back?" Tails' blue eyes grew wide then whispered. "Oh, no." he paused and said. "I'm afraid if you wish to go back, you're going to have to get a whole lot more used to Mobius."

Chris looked worried. "Why is that, Tails?"


	7. Chapter 7 The Dismissal

Chapter 7: The Report  
June 10th, 3234, 0120 hours  
Sydney, Australia  
UNSC ONI Outpost

Lieutenant Jerry Speakler walked down the hallway toward the ONI brass debriefing room. The UNSC supercarrier under the command of Admiral Gerome Andsworth had disappeared near Thyris II, an uninhabited ice planet.

Speakler was carrying the report of the incident under his arm. An unmanned probe had caught the _Indomitable_'s final moments and returned them to the Archimedes sensor outpost on the fringes of the Epsilon Eridani system near Reach.

There had been confirmed Covenant contacts in the area and the_ Indomitable _took quite a couple of those aliens with them.

Speakler waited as two armed MPs scanned his ID badge then stood aside to admit him into the debriefing room. Inside a there were only two other men: Rear Admiral Hugh Redby and General of the Marines Jaki Kytes, both of whom were in deep conversation as soon as he was in the room. They were talking about the mysterious disappearance of the ship.

"-And I'll say it again Jack: there is no way a vessel that size could've jumped and not come out the other end! It's never happened before!"

Kytes spoke up. "There always has to be a first time for everything, Hugh. The_ Indomitable _is gone, no doubt about it. The scans say everything and there was no automated signal sent to us. She's lost in Slipspace." Redby grunted. He was never good at debating.

He turned his head and noticed Speakler. "Come in, Lieutenant. Take a load off."

Speakler sighed and dropped into a chair. Not often does a commanding officer someone other than lower brass sit down. They must have been having a really good day or a bad one and needed to relax.

Kytes smoothed his thinning dirty blond hair with slight grey streaks in it. "So, Lieutenant," he said with a straight face, "What do you have for us?"

Speakler cleared his throat and put the folder on the table and edged it closer to the General.

The folder was an hourly report from the Archimedes sensor station. With it were the basics on the Indomitable when she was on her last run through the system; Her size dimensions, tonnage, even a full crew roster, which, ironically was pretty short itself. It was as if all her secrets were in their hands. All this with a final log. Kytes studied the folder once or twice, and then passed it to Redby, who skimmed it quickly and placed it back in the sleeve when he finished it.

"Lieutenant, what did the probe report?"

Speakler gestured to a vid screen. "Well, the video footage seemed to survive the slipspace transaction so I can play what we have." Speakler stood, smoothed the microscopic creases from his uniform and then went to the screen.

It flashed on to his touch and played the requested file at his command.

There stood the _Indomitable_in all her glory. Undisturbed by the space around her. Then, white globes formed around her, an ambush. Slipspace ruptures tore into the inky dark around Thyris II. Out of them emerged 15 Covenant frigates not a kilometer apart courtesy of their advanced, and stolen FTL technology. Humanity still hadn't evolved to the Covenant's level, but they were getting awfully close when the Sangheili shared their technology after the war.

Out of the _Indomitable_'s sensor view, a Covenant supercarrier appeared and launched a swarm of Seraph single-ship fighters.

The Human vessel launched hundreds of Archer missiles at the frigates in response, blowing a few up instantly and mangling the others. Speakler could've sworn that Redby muttered "Good shooting,right?" to Kytes.

Minutes later the momentary gash to slipspace tore out of the night, but instead of blackness there was the opposite, white. Whiter than anything they had ever seen before. It was like staring into Deneb.

Then the ship disappeared. The probe drew back and retreated to slipspace; its job was done.

The video cut out. Redby looked at Speakler and said.

"Well, what does this mean?"

Speakler said, "Well as a movement as per regulation, I believe that the ship went on a randomized jump, also known as a Cole Jump..."

"I know what a Cole Jump is, Lieutenant. Move along." Redby said, bored.

"Yes sir... um... what I can't place is the white light. i would hazard to guess that it may have either been an anomaly or a new jump system, but I am not aware that ONI would field-test a new drive on a ship that was damaged over Talahan."

Kytes sighed. "We may never know. The press is going to have a field day once they get hold of this new piece of information."

Redby looked at Kytes then said, "They won't know, General. They won't know that one of the most powerful ship built by human hands is gone; they won't know that WE don't know where it is. They won't know anything at all."

Speakler looked attentively. "What should I do on the matter, sir?"

The Admiral said then, "Lieutenant, the only order I can give you is to keep your mouth shut. That includes everyone that has seen this information under punishment that is yet to be determined. This meeting, and everything you have presented to us either in your words or on paper are now classified. Is that understood?"

Speakler didn't hesitate. "Yes, sir that is understood."

Redby nodded. "Good. Lieutenant, you are dismissed. See yourself out."

Speakler turned on his heel and left the room.

Kytes exhaled and said to Redby. "So now what, Admiral?"

Redby looked at him and said. "Well, unless they come out of nowhere, spouting tales of a paradise and new technology, we just have to assume that they're good and gone! Lost in Slipspace forever, or destroyed in a million twirling pieces." He made his point by tossing the folder containing the information on the table.

"Hundreds of lives wasted, billions of dollars worth of equipment, and a huge piece of history just vanished in the blink of an eye. This is a PR nightmare."

"That's right, Jack, they're good and gone like I said." Redby took out a rubber stamp and punched it on the folder. It read DISMISSED. "Gone, gone, gone."

They tossed the folder back on the table and left the room, not once looking back to the papers again.


	8. Chapter 8: The Plan

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hot _Damn_! Has it _been_ a while since I last wrote this thing?! Seeing as Soldier's log was my most popular piece until about a month ago, I thought I'd finally continue writing! Enjoy this much longer chapter, and expect more!"

-C.

Chapter 8: The Plan

June 11th 3234, 0450 hours

Knothole

Mobius

"So, that's the idea sir. We're stranded on this planet until we locate these seven jewels called Chaos Emeralds. They could be anywhere and I do mean everywhere. Deserts, seas, _anywhere_." Chris was talking to the admiral using one of the castle's communication booths. There was a two-way video call in progress in which the Lieutenant was conversing with the Navy officer. Andsworth's aged face contemplated the information he was given.

"_Vennettilli, this is an extreme turn of events. A planet doesn't seem to be a very large place to search considering the size of our ship and the amount of picket and patrol craft already docked._" "So what do you plan to do sir?" Andsworth slumped back into his seat folding his fingers. "_Well, Lieutenant, I am hereby am placing you and the men in your squad under the control of the Freedom Fighters. You'll be going with them wherever they go, whenever. I have already consented with Their Majesties and they both agree_." "You made the decision without telling me about it first?" "_Do I need a reason, Lieutenant?_" Chris folded his arms angrily. "_Lieutenant, you are not walking away from this. My decision is final. You will carry out your orders to the letter otherwise under military order JAG Article 3, Subsection 2, you will be detained and will be subject to a court martial for dereliction of duty._"

"Sir, I _don't _want to do this. I don't want to be babysitting a _brat_ and her friends!" "_This discussion is over, Lieutenant. You are dismissed_." "Yes, sir." Chris said giving a final, bitter salute. Andsworth returned it and the screen went black. Chris finally let it out. "GODDAMN IT!" He yelled. A couple occupants of other booths looked out and told him to shut up. The officer kicked the wall but achieved nothing but a sore toe. "Well, well, well. Looks like we're in for some fun."

Chris wheeled around. The Princess was leaning against the wall. She was wearing her trademark outfit of vest and boots. "Your highness!" The Marine said snapping off a quick salute. "Down soldier-boy. I told you I don't care about that." "Where are Kersiac, Hecks and Geri?" "I dismissed them for now. They're safe down in the barracks. I wanted to talk to you about our new partnership, but I see you've already expressed your opinion to the admiral."

Chris went red and she knew it. "Lieutenant, I just want to clear a few things up. Number One: I am _not_ a 'brat' and I find it offensive that you would refer to me as that. Number Two: I ask you to follow all orders that are given to you at any time regardless of purpose, and Number Three: Please refrain from personal jabs to either me or my friends. I have more power than you think I have. We're letting you stay on this planet because we've been waiting for your kind a _long_ time. Be _grateful_ that we would go out of our way for you. Is that clear, _Marine_?" Chris' mouth was a fin white line. This _teenager_ was getting the better of him! Combat training and intense meditation didn't prepare him for this.

"I believe I asked you a question, Lieutenant." She repeated. "Yes _ma'am_." He said levelly. "Good. Follow me. I don't think we've had a full tour of the palace yet. Follow me to the hanger. I want to show you our bird."

The hangar was a huge building connected to the main palace. Sally led the way punching in a coded lock. "When we get you boys settled in, we'll issue you codes. They are changed monthly. The door opened up. Some UNSC ships were being sent down. A couple olive drab shuttles were parked against the far right wall with some supplies being unloaded. A single C710 Longsword was perched in the center with Mobian techs looking over it, and two Pelicans were on approach to the strip. "This over here is the specially designed MDM Falcon Long Range Transport Vehicle."

A streamlined starship was right in front of them. She had two turbines under wings. "She's a SCRAM jet. She was built in 3229 to put us around the globe. Fast, and deadly." Then, she wheeled around. "Lieutenant, wherever we go, _you_ go, _capisci_?" "Yes ma'am." It flowed much more fluidly out of his mouth this time. "Don't think about flying her. Only Miles, Sonic, and me have the training and authorization to start her engine." She looked at her watch. "We'd better get back to the barracks. I need to pick up the other jarheads.

The Marines were collected from the barracks about ten minutes later. The men were not overly pleased to be back on duty. "Sir, I wanted to stay longer." Geri mentioned. "Private, we don't have that authority." "That's right, Private, you report to me." Geri stood up. "Whatever, Furry." At that instant, Sally grabbed the man's neck and flung him back onto the bed. Geri squirmed for a few seconds. "Don't you _ever _call me that again! Otherwise…" she grabbed the pistol out of his holster and flicked the safety, "I will send a slug into your brain."

Hank froze when his M6 was pointed at his head. "Is this bitch crazy?" He asked. "Princess, let him go." Sally relented, but clicked the safety back on and replaced the gun. "What the_ hell_ was that about?" "Racial slur." Acorn said not looking at the man. The look on her face suggested she overreacted. "Uh right. We'll remember not to do that. Kersiac said with his native Croatian accent.

Chris went back to the hangar a few hours later. It still had a lot of people in it with the addition of one more. The fox he encountered earlier, his auburn fur standing out against the grey of the hangar. He was pacing around the Longsword admiring the work. "Wow, this thing is amazing!" He said. "It's called a Longsword." Chris said. Tails whipped around. "Excuse me?" "That's a Lockheed Martin C710 Longsword Fighter-Bomber/Interceptor. It's a starfighter if you will." "Wow! A starfighter! We don't have any of those!"

"You have ships though. I've seen them myself." "Sure, we have ships, but that's about it. I have a plane that I built myself." "No kidding?" "Yeah. It's called the Tornado. It's a Transformable Fighter. It has a biplane mode and a jet mode. It's nothing compared to this." "You like her?" "Yeah. You know I've never been in space before."

The look in the anthro's eyes was damn near impossible to resist. "Want to take her up?" He suggested.

Tails froze. "What?" He asked. "Do you want to take her up?" the human said jerking his index finger skyward. Miles' eyes shone for a second. "I…Can we?" "Well, technically we can't. I need permission." "I can grant that." A voice said from behind.

Sally entered the hangar. A few techs saluted her and got back to work. "Excuse me?" Chris asked. "I'm willing to grant that request. You can take that ship up. You have flight experience?" "Yeah but I'm not very good." "Does the ship have Autopilot?" "Yes." "Then, you have permission to fly. Be warned, human: You bring her and Tails back in one piece, is that clear?" "Yes ma'am." "Very good." Sally said nodding. "Well, dismissed."

Tails walked up the forward ramp that was under the Longsword's nose. The small walkway was deserted. The engine room was also empty and the cockpit ditto. The pilot's helmet was draped over the headrest. Chris slipped into the pilot's seat and Miles into the copilot. "OK, when we're going up, remember to lean back. Torque and G-forces can be a real killer." "Roger." Tails said pulling the helmet over his head. "This feels funny." He said remarking on the uncomfortable helmet. "Well, that was because they were designed for _humans_."

Now let me see if I can start this up." Vennettilli said scanning the control panel. "If I remember, the turbine engines are here." He said tapping a button. There was a slow whine that built up as the main engines heated. "OK, I remember now. Tails, hit those three switches above your head." The fox tilted his head upwards. "You mean these ones?" He said indicating three parallel to each other. "Yeah, flip them all."

The Mobian did so. "Elevons and rudder responding." Tails reported. Chris flipped two more switches and pressed a red button. "OK, we have power." The human said. "The computer will make us hover at a safe height."

The Longsword rose ten full feet off the ground. The open mouth of the hangar beckoned them. "Ready kid?" Chris asked. His heart was also beating hard. This was his fist time in the cockpit of a Longsword outside of the simulators. Back in Boot Camp they were never expected to actually fly the damn things! "Open throttle." He breathed as he slid the accelerator forward.

The fighter accelerated into the sunlight. The windshield polarized to compensate. "Computer, run 'Orbit Protocol'." "_Military or Non-Military_?" "Non." Chris confirmed. "_Orbit Protocol in effect._" The ship started to angle slightly into the air at a 33 degree angle. "Computer, release minimal manual controls, activate anti-crash systems." "_Anti Crash systems activated. Are you sure you want to release manual_?" "Yes." The flight stick was unlocked. "What's going on?" Tails asked. "You have manual. Want to take her out?"

"Would I? I've been waiting for this my whole life!" "Good, we're at a safe altitude." The marine said looking out the window. Knothole was a large patch of greens and browns with the occasional building poking out. "Activate the SCRAM jets." He ordered. Tails found the controls and slid the lever down. Immediately he was thrown back into his seat. "Inertial Dampers will kick in soon." Chris said. "We're at Mach 25!" Chris. "Watch this." He then said. Soon, the outside was turning darker by the second. Orange flames were licking at the viewport. Tails was breathing heavily. Soon, there was only the sound of the engines. "_Approaching minimal safe orbit altitude in five minutes._ _Autopilot reengaged_."

"Wow!" Tails said awestruck "There's so many stars!" Tails loved the stars. As a man of science, one had to be amazed with the wonders beyond his or her own planet. The telescopes he had back home were nothing. This was the _real_ deal. There was no air to block his view of the stars. The moon, which lay shattered, was in orbit. "Now, what's the story behind that moon?" Chris asked pointing to the globe. "I don't know. It was like that as far as I can remember. My father told me about it when _he_ was a child…can I steer her a little bit?"

'Sure why not. Just remember, flying in space is different than flying in the atmosphere. Every time you turn, micro gas thrusts are made to change our trajectory." "I got it. It doesn't sound too tough." "OK, we're at 600 miles. Why don't you fly us around a bit?" He tapped the Autopilot controls to switch to manual.

Suddenly, Tails felt like the coolest kid in the universe. Sure this was technically unsafe and, hell, illegal but he was probably the youngest Mobian ever to fly a spaceship! Rock music started playing in his head and the fox jerked the yoke. The stars flipped around. "Wow, what do I do now?" he demanded. Chris said, "Flip it in the opposite direction to counter your spin." The anthro did so and the Longsword evened out. "OK, tap the floor pads to adjust the yaw."

The Longsword started spinning sideways now. Mobius, space, and the broken moon flashed before him in a few seconds. "OK, OK, I think I have." "You'd better, Mobian. I'm getting sick here." "Don't you worry Lieutenant. Just lean back, relax, and enjoy the flight!" The throttle was opened up and Chris was momentarily flung back into his seat. Inertial Dampers were good but this speed was giving him a headache. "30,000 Kilometers an hour." Tails reported.

The Longsword rolled in space, mostly confined to a small invisible sphere about 100 miles wide. Jets were activated everywhere spraying heat signatures in all directions. Only this time, there were some people that weren't supposed to pick them up.

First, the lesser of two evils: Jerome Andsworth was sipping his cup of coffe, slow brewed, black, and with a touch of cream and a hint of mint extract just the way he liked it. He claimed it was an old family recipe, the bitterness of the drink keeping him awake, the cream to cool it down, and the mint to keep his breath cleaner after he was finished.

The Admiral was shifting duty. His XO named Sheppard had the deck while he was off-duty. He was passing a viewport looking over the majesty that was the mirror universe Earth. He was just about to pass when he noticed a speck of black among the blue. This speck of black was throwing off burning gas a whole lot. "Lieutenant Jaffa, what is that outside?" "_What's what sir_?" "I see what looks like one of our Longswords flying. I don't believe I authorized any." "_Checking logs. Sir, we have full compliment except for one we sent down earlier._" "And…?" "_Sir, I just received a message from the dock officer. He says that this particular Longsword took off without his permission_." Andsworth nodded his head. "Who's onboard?" "_Judging from Life support, at least two. Activating camera now_." There was some silence. "_I see a fox anthro and a human. Sir, it's Lieutenant Vennettilli_."

Andsworh set his cup down on a counter. "He's doing this to get back at me. I know it." "_Excuse me, sir_?" "Send two Hellcats out to get them. Instruct them not to fire on the Longsword. Just equip them with EMP tethers if you can." "_Aye sir, patching it through._"

"Seriously I'm starting to get sick now. Stop rolling, please!" Chris said. "But I've never had so much freedom to move! If I could modify the Tornado for space flight, it would be the greatest thing I would have ever done. "Sure, fine, as long as we get back on the ground first!" "_We can arrange that_." said a voice through the radio, it sounded official. "Come again?" Chris asked.

"_This is Sergeant Wilkins, 225__th__ Squadron. I have orders to instruct you to cease and desist in your flight._" "Sergeant, I have permission to be up here." "_That's not for me to decide. I have my orders. Cut your engines and proceed with maximum deceleration_." Chris sighed. "Alright." He turned to Tails. "Cut engines, slow us down."

Tails nodded sadly. He liked being up here but law was the law. He let up on the gas and activated the braking rockets. Slowly the speedometer drifted to zero. "_Thank you for cooperating Lieutenant. Please wait while we attach EMP tethers._"

In a second, two thumps were heard. Tethers attached to the ship and the lights dimmed as the power was cut. "_We're going to pull you back now_." Wilkins reported. That's when the greater of two evils arrived.

First Rule of Space Stealth: It doesn't exist. Space is an absolute zero environment. Science Fiction stories from the past claimed that a spacecraft can just cut their engines and they suddenly faded away from detection. Totally erroneous: a spacecraft's maneuvering thrusters could be picked up from lunar orbit. A small shuttle's main drives could be picked up from Pluto. Technically there were ways to beat this. One was through ablative paint to prevent radar detection but not visual, second was heat sinks which could hold heat inside a spacecraft for a limited amount of time; highly effective but deadly expensive. Third was visual stealth, which was almost totally useless unless used with one of the other methods.

Unfortunately the Longsword was neither of these things so it was spraying its thermal signatures for all to see. This attracted some unwanted visitors. One visitor in particular: Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

Robotnik had picked up the Longsword's signatures as soon as the fighter had cleared the atmosphere. He stood in front of the screen in his Citadel, a massive structure in the center of the city Robotropolis. "Interesting." He mumbled. "I should have paid more attention to these humans. This vessel is absolutely _enormous_. The weapons it might carry, the research she could have made…I have to have it!" Robotnik had noticed that the isolated fighter had only two occupants, one of which was the pesky twin-tailed fox, Miles "Tails" Prower. The second was a human. His path was clear. The human wasn't important. Tails wasn't even important. His objective was snatching that fighter and dissecting it. If he managed to capture the fox, bonus. He would just leave the human to drift in the vacuum.

Robotic fighters were dispatched. He rarely sent drones into space. These were special robots though. The Doctor himself viewed the outside through an uplink. They were already in space. _Damn_. He thought. Smaller fighters already arrived at the ship and attached tethers. Looks like they were going to tow it back to the larger ship. "Time to introduce myself."

"_Attention, humans._" A voice said over the COM. "What was that?" Chris asked. "Robotnik!" Tails answered. "_Who the hell do you think you are_?" Wilkins asked. "_So nice of you to ask. My name is Ivo Robotnik. I am a doctor, but more importantly, I am a human, just like you._" "_I'm Sergeant Wilkins, 225__th__. By UNSC order, I am commanding you to leave the immediate area. This is military business, Doctor. No civilian involvement._" There was silence over the COM. "_I see. However, I am not here on civilian business_._ That's a lovely fighter you have there. I have to say I want it_." "_It's not for sale doctor._" Wilkins said. Chris slapped his forehead. Wilkins was a dense bastard. The Lieutenant knew right away what was going to happen, but the lack of power prevented him from warning the Sergeant.

"_Ah. That's too bad. But you misunderstand me Sergeant. I'm not _asking_ for it. I'm going to _take_ it!_" Then, laser fire erupted from the night. Outside, dozens of drones were visible firing at the Hellcats. Some scored glancing hits on Wilkins and his wingman. The Sergeant cursed and detached the tether to break and attack. "_Mayday, Mayday, this is Sergeant Wilkins, UNSC _Indomitable_. We are under attack from hostile forces. I say again, Mayday! Six bandits are approaching, visual confirmed_.

The Hellcats accelerated to engage the robot fighters. Vennettilli knew that there was no chance that two F-29s could stand against the sheer numbers. "We need to help them!" He said. "I can't do anything!" Tails said tapping the panels. "They won't respond!" "Hang on." Chris said unclipping himself. Gravity was off so he pushed off onto the ceiling and thrust himself down the hall. He hit the door to the engine room. He manually opened it and looked for a switch that would turn on the engines manually. He found it labeled 'SECONDARY POWER SWITCH'.

The lights flickered on. "Got it! Let's go! He called as his boots hit the deck. He ran back and strapped himself in. "You're a better pilot than I am. Punch it!" The fighter shot forward engines roaring. "Computer, activate assisted targeting." "_Assisted targeting online. Ordinance ready_." A second later, they had a target. "Ever fire a missile before?" "Yeah." "Then this is no different. Take it down." Tails thumbed the stub and an ASGM-10 flew from under the left wing. Vapor was trailing in its wake. Five seconds later, there was a tiny flash in the distance. "_Target destroyed_." The computer cooed.

"_Lieutenant, this is Wilkins. We're in a bit of a bind here. Reinforcements won't be here for a few minutes. Since you've found the backup switch we should work together for the time being_." "Agreed." "_Uh…this changes nothing by the way. You're still coming with us just a little behind schedule._" "Right, agreed." A beeping sounded. "They have a lock on us." Tails said calmly. "Do something fancy, I'll activate ventral cannons. He opened the interface and the guns came online. The computers scanned until he saw some red tinted robots. Lining up the sights and accounting for trajectory, he opened fire, spraying the space behind him with lead. Soon, sparks, smoke, and flames were seen. Another down.

"Chris, they're starting to get frisky!" Tails shouted. The damage control started to get red and all of a sudden there was a loud thump in engineering. "Wh…what was that?!" The frightened fox asked. "Decompression. We have a hull breach in the engine room. We have no suits either. If there's a breach in here…how long can you hold your breath for?" Tails then looked at Chris. There was another silent starburst. Then a hulk spun across the field of vision. "Is that an F-29?" Chris asked to himself. "_Mayday, Mayday, this is Senior Airman Ross Gilligan! My fighter is critically damaged! I am losing atmosphere fast! Can anybody respond?!_" "_Airman, this is Everly, 98__th__ Air Squadron. We are clear of the ship and are making best speed towards your location._"

Suddenly the air was filled with explosions as fighters both human and robot alike dodged fire. "Jesus Christ! All this for a fighter?" Chris wondered aloud. "Eggman's a maniac! He doesn't care about who he has to go through to win!" "_They're backing off!_" A pilot said as the robots began to pull back. "_Confirmed, Cyclops are running for it._" A second said. "_Everyone OK?_" Everly asked. "_Gilligan needs evac pronto. His cockpit shattered and he only has about an hour of air._" "_Copy that. I'll get him_." A pilot said. "_We need to get that Longsword back to the ship. She was unauthorized to take off_." "_Was she now?_ _Who's on board_?" "_A human and a fox_." Chris cleared his throat. "Major, it's me."

"_Lieutenant?! Boy oh boy you are in big trouble mister. Andsworth's not happy that you A: Stole UNSC property, B: You took her on an unauthorized flight and C: You let a _minor_ fly a multi-million dollar piece of _COMBAT EQUIPMENT_!_ _Sit tight. This might be a long ride for you_." The COM snapped off. Chris looked at Tails with a nervous smile. "Well, I'm screwed!"

"…and to make matters worse, you allowed an expensive military aerospace vehicle to be piloted by a 12 year old kid! Lieutenant, I would never think that you would stoop so low! Your record would say otherwise!" Andsworth was chewing Chris out for his alleged theft of a Longsword. "ALSO, you were engaged with enemy forces! You _damaged_ that Longsword! We'll need to repair the reactor conduits now! You know that Gilligan is in the hospital getting treatment for shrapnel wounds and oxygen deprivation?" He sat behind his desk and read the report that Everly forwarded to him. "You realize that I have more than enough to file you for a court-martial?" "Sir, what _is_ it with you and court-martials today?" "It's a bad one, Lieutenant." He took a drink of his coffee.

"Tell you what I'm going to do:" A ray of hope was piercing the clouds… "I'm going to reduce this charge, only because you were such a big help at Talahan. No court-martial." He turned to look at Tails. He felt pity on the little guy. Miles was sitting with his hand clapped together on his lap. His ears drooped so low they were touching the sides of his head and he was shivering. "Do you have anything to say, young man?" At first Tails said nothing but then, "Sir, we had permission from S…I mean, the princess, sir. She permitted us to fly the ship." Andsworth shook his head and looked at the Marine. "I'd like to believe you, Chris. I really would. But I need proof that you weren't just joyriding that thing." The COM crackled. "_Sir, Velo. I have a message from the planet. Sounds important_." "Patch it to my cabin, Lieutenant." "_Aye sir._"

The screen flickered on. Her Royal Highness the Princess appeared. "_Admiral Andsworth_." She said smiling slightly. "Good afternoon, Highness. What might this old man do for you today?" "_I believe you have two of my associates in your office today_." Gerome blinked. "Why yes. They're telling me that you gave them permission to fly the Longsword." "_Correct. I did_." "You _do_ realize that there is a man in the ICU recovering from exposure? Not to mention that there are damaged vessels because of this?" "_I _did_ tell the Lieutenant to bring the ship back in _one_ piece, sir_. _That's beside the point. You were attacked, weren't you?_" "Yes, how did you…? Erm…yes we were. According to the report the attack was initiated by Doctor Robotnik. He struck the escort fighters first." "_Doctor Eggman is an extremely dangerous man. He would have attacked you one way or another. Those two boys made him strike sooner, which may have been better for us._"

"How so?" "_Eggman only attacks when he sees an object of interest, namely, your technological archives. Mobians have much different FTL methods. Alcubierre drives only can get us so far. We've never even exited the Solar System._" "So how does this help?" "_It helps because we can now map out a plan to stop him before he sinks his claws even deeper. He must have gotten _something_ out of that battle, free floating debris, data drive, something!_"

Andsworth knew that she was right. He had encountered men like Robotnik before; men who would stop it nothing to control the galaxy with raw firepower and an iron fist. In light of this, it seemed almost pointless to punish these two but instead _praise_ them for drawing out their true enemy on this planet. "Lieutenant, Prower, I'm dropping the charges against you two. Tread _damn_ lightly here. No margin of error, understood?" "Yes sir!" They both saluted. Chris looked down at the kid. "Raise the elbow, straighten the fingers." He said. Tails did so and his salute looked more solid. Gerome smiled behind his moustache. "Get out of here you two." He said. "But you'd better not touch anything unless it has _MY_ seal of approval on it! Otherwise, I _will_ throw you in the brig." Chris gulped. "Yes sir." He said nodding.

"_Just one more thing Admiral, I'm catching the first shuttle up to the _Indomitable_._" Andsworth cocked his head. "Why? We can have a more suitable transport sent down…" "_No it's OK, I'll grab a shuttle_." "And what will be the nature of your visit?" she smiled widely. "_It helps to know your friends, Admiral. You've seen my home, now it's time for me to see yours._"


	9. Chapter 9: The Proposal

Chapter 9: The Proposal

June 11th 3234, 0515 hours

UNSC _Indomitable_

Docking Arm 21

The Admiral stood with hands behind his back as a shuttle came sideways. This shuttle was mainly carrying munitions and supplies granted to them by the Mobians but more importantly, it had a special passenger on board. The shuttle activated its port thrusters to bring it closer to the docking ring. Gentle counter thrusts were made to slow her down. The dock-master extended the airlock to secure with the tiny ship.

There was a slight thump as the shuttle attached and the light above the door flickered green. Pressure inside the docking arm had been stabilized and the door cycled open. Sally walked through the arm accompanied by her Protectors. She looked around curiously when she crossed the threshold. "Princess on _deck_!" a senior officer shouted. Everyone stood to and saluted sharply. Sally just stared at them. "Uh…at ease, Marines." She said. They all saluted again and relaxed.

She shook hands with Andsworth. "How are you doing today, Princess?" "Good. I didn't really like that flight. I've only been in space one time and it wasn't very pleasant." "Don't worry, your Highness, this ship has microgravity therapy to help you get used to space travel and the artificial gravity systems will give you a healthy 1.0 G environment." "That sounds good. Wow, I can't believe that this is just a single _hallway_! This ship is gigantic!" "Yes it is, Princess. At 5.2 kilometers in length, the _Indomitable_ is the largest ship ever built by human hands. She was commissioned in 3020 over Mars. She was actually slated to be released fifty years earlier but we had incidents with the blueprints." "Wow, this ship is almost two hundred years old?" "Indeed, ma'am, the length of a human life span. Let's move along."

They toured her through most of the ship's most basic features. The honeycombed structure was pointed out using with the thick metal beams of superstructure poking through the floor and into the ceiling, the mess hall that was packed today with Marines and Navy that were off-duty. The bridge was also toured. Sally shuddered slightly as she saw the thick Plexiglas windows. She expressed her concerns of a possible blowout if this area was struck. "Relax, Highness. We've been using this design for centuries. If we're hit _anywhere_, there's going to be a blowout. Besides, anything you've seen in movies is overly exaggerated. You're either going to die instantly or have enough time to reach gear, no in between." She still gulped though.

Chris had never been through this much of the ship. His feet were killing him! He hadn't even been on the ship that long! Barely a couple months! They were currently in the vehicle bay where humans casually worked. Since there was no problem, why rush? A Hellcat swept into the bay and was stopped by retro jets and a thick metal cable that slowed it down. Apparently Wilkins had just finished a recon run. The tires screeched as they slowed down. Wilkins stepped out of the plane and rubbed his close-cropped hair. He knuckled another pilot and they walked off. "We have all sorts of air and spacecraft all designed for both offensive, defensive, and diplomatic purposes." "I see. You get any good views from them?" Andsworth considered the question. "Well, that really depends. Shuttles have some great views from the windows but you're really going to see a lot from more military oriented craft such as a Pelican." "I see." She said looking at one of the dropships as she angled her nacelles to land. "Let's keep moving." Gerome advised. "They're about to run through drills. Come along Lieutenant." He said. Chris was looking over the railing. He had never been this high before. He could see the other end of the hold from here! He heeded the admiral's warning and rushed out.

"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" The Admiral asked as they were seated in the briefing room. "Yeah, real interesting." She looked out of the window down to her home planet. "Is something wrong, Highness?" "Sir, the real reason I came here is something different." Andsworth edged forward in his seat and the Marines looked at her. "You're here for another reason?" "Yeah." Sally said. "Sir, I want to ask if I can become a Marine."

That took Andsworth by surprise. "Well…that's interesting. Why would you want to do that? You have your whole life ahead of you." That made the Lieutenant angry when he heard that. He never signed up goddamn it, he was _drafted_, pulled from his comfortable life as a civilian and made into a fighting man. He had two degrees in law for Christ's sake! But, he had to admit he had been a part in the war effort. If he never were drafted though, he would have never had peace over his parents' death. So he backed down and let her talk.

"I know, sir. Its just, I have always waited for humans to come back. I'm _devout_ if you can say that." Andsworth crossed a leg. "You mean, you've set up a church for us?" "Well, somewhat. We call it the _Church of the Ancients_. Ancients, of course being you guys." She said gesturing towards the old man and the Marines. "Humans." "What's the point you're trying to make?" "Well, I have always found humans fascinating from what the original colonists left behind and the ruins." "Ruins? What ruins?" Chris found himself saying. "The Ruins of Old Megaopolis." "The what the hell?" PFC Geri asked. "I'll show you later." She turned back to Andsworth folded her legs and knitted her fingers businessman style. "So, what's it going to be, will the Freedom Fighters receive Marine training? I'd consider it a way to interact more with humans and learn more about them." Andsowrth thought hard, pausing only to take a sip of coffee. "Your highness, what you're asking me to do, I can't take lightly. If anything, allow me to consider your request for the time being." She nodded understandingly. "That I can understand. Alright, if anything take a couple days to think about it." "I'll do that. You know your way back to the shuttle?"

She shrugged. "It's a big ship." He nodded. "OK, Marines, escort this young lady back to her ship." The soldiers saluted and turned to leave. Hecks said, "Permission to speak, Highness?" she sighed. "Granted, Hecks." "Ma'am, you might want to think carefully about what you want to do here. You'd need to leave the planet quite often and would never see your family for a long time." They entered an elevator and the car went down. She noticed the young man's face was creased with sorrow. "Something wrong Private?" she asked.

Hecks cleared his eyes. "No, it's just, I know how that feels." He opened up a pocket in uniform and pulled out a stationary photo, which has folded up in quarters. He opened it and there was a lovely young woman with flowing blond hair. "My girl." He said. Sally looked at her. She was beautiful. "Is that your wife?" "No, girlfriend. She said that she wanted to get married after we got back, same old same old cliché if you will." "Why didn't you get married before you left?" She asked. "I said that it might slow me down, and it might cause some emotional pain. Look at it this way: At least if I die…" He looked out of the car at the stars. "Um…what about you, LT, you got somebody at home?" Sally asked. "Me? Nah." "Oh come on, sir, what's that supposed to mean?" Geri asked. "Well, since you bastards like to pry…yeah, I did have somebody." "'Did?'" the Princess asked.

"Her name was Michelle Anderson. Smart, and easy on the eyes. Boy were we a couple." "What happened?" Kersiac asked. "Well, the war happened. We were separated and I couldn't talk to her. Remember Talahan? They blocked all messages to and from the planet with the exclusion of top brass?" "Yeah, I remember." Hecks said nodding.

"She thought I was dead. When I called her to tell her I was OK, there was someone else already with her. They were thinking of talking about marriage." "Ouch." The Croatian Marine said. "So, I never talked to her again. And here I am today." "LT, sorry. We didn't mean to go that deep." Geri acknowledged. "It's OK. I needed to get it off my chest." The elevator pinged. They arrived at the dry dock where the shuttle was waiting. "They strapped in tightly and waited for takeoff." "It's not easy being in my position, your Highness." Chris said. "Explain." "Look at me, drafted into the military, girlfriend dumps me, parents killed when I was a kid…" She whirled around to face Chris head-on. "Your parents were killed?" "Uh…it's not a nice story. I…it's painful to remember. Maybe some other time I'll tell you."

The shuttle detached from the five kilometer long ship. The maneuvering thrusters spun it about until the main drives propelled it towards the planet. The pilots announced that there was turbulence and that they would be landing at the airport. The shuttle coasted through the atmosphere until Knothole was visible. The airport was a long black strip of tarmac that was stamped on the land. A commercial flight was just taking off. "_Alright boys and girls, we are on final approach, touchdown in two_."

The tires hit the tarmac and smoke came from the burned rubber. The shuttle jarred and slowed. Soon the engines stopped and the pilots said, "_We have arrived in Knothole. Local time is 0720 hours. Temperatures are a balmy 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Please exit the shuttle in the direction indicated._"

A hatch hissed open on the starboard hull. Sunlight came in through the portal. The guys unclipped their seat belts and went out. A taxi had already come to pull the ship into one of their hangars. A Troop hog was waiting with a wheelman. "Take us back." Chris said putting a par of shades on. He sat in the passenger seat relishing the air. He had been on that ship for several months, and Talahan longer. This air always calmed him. It was light, lacking pollutants, it felt…good.

The jeep shifted into traffic. The military vehicle was able to bypass some of the red lights. Some civilians were deeply angered by this. Chris even saw one woman (whom he thought was a bandicoot) drumming her fingers on the wheel, the look in her eyes of utmost hate.

That made Chris take the sunglasses off and lean over his shoulder. "Hey Princess." He asked. "Yeah?" She responded. "Call me crazy, but I get the feeling folks around here don't like us." "Oh yeah I forgot. Some Mobians don't like humans as much as I do." "Any reason?" Hecks asked leaning forward. "I think so…something about you ruining the environment of your home world, you going on mindless killing sprees and grabbing as much territory as you can." Geri laughed. "Hell, sounds like us alright!" He an Kersiac giggled for a while.

"It's not funny you two." Sally persisted. The marines shut up, Geri nervously rubbing his neck. "OK, We stop." He said in a small voice. "Some people really think that you might destroy this world like you've done with Earth. "We never _destroyed_ it, your Highness, it's a modern utopia of amazing technological design!" She leaned back and folded her arms. "Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that." "You want to make a bet? Hundred bucks on that?" She raised an eyebrow. "Deal." They shook hands through the window.

"I'm telling you Sonic, these guys are nicer than they look. Can you just bury the hatchet? I mean, they don't seem intent on destroying our planet, harvesting it's precious metals or stealing our women, they're just people who want to go home! One of them even cried in front of me. Sonic, are you even paying attention?"

Sally stood in the base under the castle. Sonic was reclined on a chair tossing a Super ball at the wall. The bouncy ball rebounded once off the ground, once off the wall, and once off the ceiling before returning to his hand. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked. Sally said, "You're impossible you know that?" "What, I don't give a damn about them? They're human! We're better than they are." "Are you so sure to judge such a thing, hedgehog? You remember the war? What your father did during the war?" "That's not important. My father was a great man." "He killed people just the same. He's a soldier like these guys, why can't you just allow them to be here?!"

He got up and circled the princess. "Because, this place is my home. It's been our home for over a thousand years. Even as we were a colony we lived with humans, but even they had military ordinance, fleets of attack ships…" "Those were colony vessels and nothing more!" "Right, how many colony vessels have mass drivers on them?" "I…they're different, I know it." "Maybe you're right. But maybe I'm right too. You've read the history books; each page is spattered with war and death. I believe they had a special word for it…genocide?" "Sonic, please, they're not like that. I know it…" She backed down, her shoulders drooped and she was sad. Sonic sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry. I may not like them but I won't second-guess you. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am…"

Andsworth just got the medical report on Ross Gilligan, one of the pilots who were in the fight with the drones. With a heavy heart, the admiral read that Gilligan had died during the operation. According to the report, when the cockpit shattered, it shot glass shards into his body, some as big as five centimeters. When doctors tried to remove them they realized that they were the only things stopping him from bleeding out. Unfortunately thy never noticed that until it was too late. The body was set to be cremated with military honors on Friday next week. He set down the clipboard and placed his face in his hand. He took off his cap and placed it on his armrest. _How many are going to die here?_ Suddenly, there was a beep on Velo's console. "What…?" "Sir, I'm picking up a signal from the planet. Untraceable, sir want me to put it up?" "Yes." "Patching through."

"Bonjour_, my admiral. Such a pleasure to finally talk to you at last_." "Who are you?" Gerome asked. "_I am Doctor Robotnik. I think the fuzzballs have told you about me_?" "Vaguely." He said as his temper flared. "Are you the one who opened fire on my men?" "_I might have given the order, but what's done is done_." "One of my men _died_ today because of that attack, Doctor!"

There was silence over the channel. "_Admiral, I almost hate to say this, but your men aren't of concern to me. If I read your logs correctly-which of course, I stole-you've come from a place where there is much more wonder than this place will ever hold for me, thousands of light-years of populated space, free minerals floating amongst the stars, and enemies of your race that might…stand to make a profit…_" "What are you suggesting?" the admiral said through gritted teeth. "_All I am trying to say is that, frankly, I've had it on this miserable rock! I have not travelled farther than to New Mars and I certainly haven't found anyone else out there, but perhaps, in _your_ universe…_"

"Doctor, the only way you're getting to our home is in a body bag!" "_Oh, so harsh. Threatening an old man such as myself is hardly worthy of a man of service in such a position._" "We're just two old coots bickering. I have all the right to tear your ass apart." "_Very well, Admiral. If violence is the only way we can resolve this argument, so be it._" Then, his voice was more sinister. "_Just remember, I have awesome power under my command. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. Brace yourself, Admiral. Robotnik out._"

"Did we get a signal on that transmission?" Andsworth asked leaning back into his chair. "Negative, sir." Velo said. "Eggman was true to his word, we found no transmission point. We don't even know if he's even on the planet." "Enemy radar signatures?" The navy man asked. Lieutenant Jaffa reported, "I've just done two sweeps of the spectrum. There are no enemy ships in range." "Push the scan distance to 600,000 kilometers. I don't want to be surprised." "Aye, sir. 600k." He turned back to Velo. "Lieutenant, patch me through to the princess." "Aye sir. Acquiring Signal ID…Done. We have Audio/Video."

The viewscreen booted up, displaying a handshake symbol. That showed that two systems were trying to contact one another. A dial-tone of sorts. Soon, the screen flickered and Sally appeared. She was brushing her hair. "_Admiral? What can I do for you_?" "Princess, I've come to talk to you about our offer. She stopped her motion. "_Yes_?" "I'm willing to take you up on it. Doctor Eggman has declared war on us. We need your help."

She smiled and set down her brush. "_Alright, Admiral. I require a few things though_." "Name it." "_I want the best you can offer. I want Drill Instructors from both sides, all the top of their class, top of the line weapons, armor, vehicles and training equipment. Make sure that the compound is at least 1500 square acres with air pads, vehicle repair stations and garrison bases_." "Wow." The admiral said slightly taken aback. This was a young woman barely pushing 20 and yet she had extensive military terminology branded on her. Her father must have taught her that. Max was a real hero in the Great War, or, so he read. "Your highness, on behalf of the United Nations Space Command, I humbly accept your offer. We'll be at the palace at 12:45 tomorrow afternoon. Ready to finally kick this guy's ass?" She grinned. "_I've been waiting for this a long time. See you, human_." The screen snapped off.

Andsworth sat satisfied. The UNSC was going to learn how to fight robots, a transdimensional threat. He chuckled slightly. It was like a comic book. He instructed Velo to put him in contact with the requisition and construction officers. There was a lot of work to do.


	10. Chapter 10: The Training

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Now, just to let you guys know here, I have not had military training at all. I have tried my best to make a drill sergeant that sounded genuinely threatening. Thanks for putting up so far, expect more!

-C.

Chapter 10: The Training

June 12th 3234, 1200 hours

Castle Acorn

Knothole Kingdom

12 o'clock. Right on time. The royals were standing on the stairway that led into the main castle. Two stone-faced royal guards flanked them. The courtyard was cleared that particular morning. King Max and Queen Alicia looked at their daughter with sad eyes. They always supported her when it came to protecting her people and her friends, but now she was learning to fight like a real warrior. It was sad to see her go, knowing that something bad could happen to her. Sally didn't see this though. She was just glancing at the sky with anticipation. There was a light cover but it wasn't too bad. She had her friends gathered up too. Among them, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles the Echidna, and even the spoiled Amy Rose.

Suddenly, a whining noise filled the air. It was very cinematic. A Pelican dropship burst out of the cloud cover. Some civilians looked up to see the human craft. "Wow." The hedgehog simply said. The Pelican tilted the nacelles so that her descent slowed, spinning nearly ninety degrees. "They're milking it." Hecks said. "They never come down that smooth. Normally it's hit the ground, get your ass in, get out of there." Vennettilli nodded in agreement.

The pilot activated the landing gear. The tires absorbed the impact the dropship set down and the pilot cut the engine. "Hey, that reminds me," Tails then said. "Why do you use tires? Why not pads or skids?" Chris answered, "Do you know how much it would cost to replace a pad or a skid? They don't roll so well I think."

A black man with a buzz cut stepped out of the Pelican. He had a military cap on his head and a neatly trimmed goatee. "My name is Staff Sergeant Jackson Jones! I will be your drill instructor for the next few weeks. Under my protection, I will nurture you all from the weak husks of flesh you are into mean, green fighting machines!" Chris thought he heard the Queen whisper, "Oh my, he's strict."

"Since you are all my property, I don not care who you are. Your highness, as of this moment, you are officially a UNSC Marine Corps operative." He turned to the fox. "Short stuff! The age limit is 18!" To their surprise, Miles said in a loud and strong voice, "Sir, I am willing to try all the same sir! I am a Freedom Fighter and I would like to learn to fight, sir!" Jackson raised an eyebrow and cleaned his ear. "I'm sorry, I thought I heard a little maggot squeak!"

"Hey, tall, dark and brainless! You listening to me, son?" Sonic had no vision of respect towards the NCO. "I don't answer to humans." "Oh, tough guy, huh? Alright, ten laps around the compound, _now_!" Sonic smiled. There was a blue flash, a rush of wind, and he was in the exact same spot. "Want me to do it again?" "Wise ass, huh? We can fix that."

"Care to make a joke about me, Sergeant?" the echidna asked brandishing his spiked gloves. Jones gulped. "Not necessary." Jones worked his way down the group berating and humiliating every single anthro that was to be coming with them. He curiously seemed to let up with those bigger than he was. When he was finished, he made his way front and center. "Since you all have wasted my precious, precious time, you will _triple_ time it to that pelican! Hustle ladies, hustle!"

The UNSC recruits dashed towards the waiting dropship. It seemed that it was full to the gills with anthros. Jones took off his cap and wiped his temple. "I have no idea what I have gotten myself into." He looked at Chris. "I don't know, Lieutenant. I've trained men before, even aliens, but _this_ is gonna be something else." Chris gave a playful shove on Jones' shoulder. "Keep it together Sarge. You can do it. I'll even be on-site to watch the work."

"Um…excuse me, Mr. Jones?" a voice said. The Sergeant turned and saw the royals right in front of him. "Anything I can do for you, your highnesses?" he preformed a bow that was so elegant it had to have been rehearsed many, many times. "Sergeant, may we make the request to make sure that our daughter…um…comes back home in one piece?" King Max asked. "Your majesties, I can watch your daughter. I will make her something you will be proud of. I will make her the best she can possibly be." Alicia sighed sadly. "I do hope so…this was not the life I thought she would have…" "Your majesty, we're about to go into war. We need your help, and this _guy_ we're fighting will stop at nothing to beat us, even if it means nuking you all into atoms.

Max nodded. He understood what was at stake here. "Very well, Sergeant. Look after her." "Will do, your majesty!" The engines started up. The dropship's nacelles tilted ground ward. Jets of fire shot from the nozzles and the military transport rose into the air. The Pelican gained a safe height and then sped away into the horizon, burdened by its new heavy load.

The Lieutenant watched the craft fly away. "They won't be far, will they?" He asked. "No, the training ground was located right in the forest. Will only be a thirty-minute flight." Geri said. "Why?" "They might feel better if they're closer to home." "Dunno. Think it may cause attachments." Hank said back. "Hmm…you may be right. When is our transport due?" Kersiac checked his watch. "Eh, ten more minutes, give or take thirty seconds or so." "Ten minutes…I can wait."

Chris and his men sat on the steps of the palace. They absorbed the sunlight with satisfied looks on their face. A couple of birds flew in the air singing their song. "Excuse me, Lieutenant?" Chris said, "Yeah?" with his eyes closed, blissfully ignorant. "Can I ask you a question?" He cracked open his eyes to see the King standing above him. He nearly jumped. "Oh Jesus, oh, I mean, your highness!" "Spare the formalities, son. This is just a friendly chat. No badges, no ranks. Just man to man talk." "Uh, sure. What would you like to know?"

Max sat down on the steps sighing in delight. "My goodness I haven't done that in a while, just sit down and enjoy the view. Now, the place you come from, Earth?" "Yeah, that's it. Speaking technically, your highness, this _is_ Earth." "Right, but _your_ Earth. The Earth we came from. Is it, a wreck as they say it is?" "What? No, why?" "Well, there have been whispers among the population ever since you first arrived. Some say that you have resorted to violence, killing yourselves off as you 'always have'." "Uh, no we haven't. For the past 600 years, we've had peace. More or less. Sure there are still some rag-tag rebels that think themselves too big for the galaxy." "And Earth?" "I can't describe it. Most humans live in arcologies kilometers high. Most of the surface is covered in cities although some places like the Amazon, Sahara, the Serengeti Plains, and numerous other areas were kept the way they were. We also stopped climate change in 2117 but you likely know about that."

Max nodded. "It's good to hear that. Will we get to see it?" "Maybe. Depends whether we get back alive or not." Chris said with a nervous smile. Max nodded. "Yes, of course, we'll try to keep it that way."

The Pelican was crowded. Somebody occupied almost every square inch of the dropship. She and her friends were sitting closest to the cockpit. A guard was standing in the doorway with a rifle in his hands. "Can you put that down?" Sally asked. "I don't want that to go off if we hit turbulence." "Relax. Safety's on. There's gonna have to be some mighty big turbulence to knock that off." "_Attention, this is your pilot speaking. We are approaching Fort Acorn and are on final approach. Please don't stand up until we touch down. Thank you._" "Well that seemed unusually cheerful." Sonic said. Tails piped up, "Sonic, the military always throws these things around, seems nice, but underneath, it's just laden with insults."

Sally glanced out the porthole. The camp was roughly prefabricated. She had insisted that it be built in one of the forest's natural clearings. She couldn't find it in her heart to tear down the trees. The buildings were either inflated or made out of carbon or plastics. Normally you found those on asteroids or in mines. The Pelican touched down and the pilot turned off the engine. Some soldiers started tittering in low voices. "Listen up, boys and girls!" Jones said standing up. "When I open this hatch, you will jog the track and report to your bunks. Calisthenics will begin and then you all get haircuts!"

Sally suddenly found herself clutching her red locks. _Haircuts_? She couldn't part company with her hair. It was her friend! The shoulder length curls were always kept that way. She sighed in defeat. She was beginning to regret her choice already.

Jones opened the back hatch. The Mobians saw their first taste of human military action: squads ran in packs chanting old Marine Corps hymns. There was a silent drill practice out near a building; humans were flipping ancient M1 Garand rifles as if they were toys, totally fearless of the bayonets that were on the weapons. "Get off my Pelican!" Jones ordered.

Sally stepped off and took in her surroundings. Despite the ocean of discipline and testosterone that was swilling around her, she spotted signs of life. A squad of marines was playing basketball. A big one was dominating. With a gigantic leap, he nailed the ball in the hole. His competitors groaned in disbelief.

The ball rolled to the princess. She picked it up and looked at the men. "Hey, furry!" A marine said jogging up to her. "Mind giving us back the ball sweetheart?" He was tall, had close cropped blond hair, and blue eyes. "Huh? You listening, furry?" He laughed and turned to his friends. "Hey, she doesn't speak my language, boys! Ain't that a fucking sh-" BAM.

Sally passed the ball back alright, right into his skull. The marine teetered and fell to the ground with a muffled _whump_, the earthy ground breaking his fall. Sonic chuckled. "Whoa! You totally _wrecked_ that guy!" She knelt down to his level. "You crazy bitch! What the fuck was that for?" "Let's get one thing straight here, jarhead." "Holy fuck, you can talk!" "You call me 'furry', to my face again; I'll take your fucking head off with this thing." She said bouncing the ball. "And it's 'your Highness'." She stood up and tossed the ball. It arced in the air and swished in the basket. "Three points." She said.

They found their beds. The barracks were just a long line of beds on both sides, bunk style. Jones was in the center. "Choose a bed, any bed. These will be your personal quarters for the next few weeks to a couple months. Sally sighed. She chose a reasonably comfortable one close to the entrance. She tested it out by sitting on it. Well, it wasn't home, but hey, she asked for it. Literally.

"Alright! Recruits, follow me! Time for a workout!" The anthro marines stood up and marched out. They had quite a long day ahead of them.

After a grueling run, they were given, 'the sheers' as the marines called it. Mobians were sat in a barber's chair while their hair and fur was cut to a reasonable length. Unfortunately, the current barber was a human who was not familiar with cutting Mobian hair. A fit was caused when he accidently cut off a little more of a bear's hair than he would have liked. Now, that particular recruit had a bald spot and the barber was now in ICU. A new Mobian professional took his place.

Tails felt the sheers brush his head. Thankfully the only things he lost were the small locks he had on the front of his head. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped down and walked out. Sonic had less luck, and worse: this barber knew him.

"So Sonic! How are we doing today? Do you know what you'll be having?" the joke flew over the hedgehog's head with a slight swishing noise. "Well actually, I was thinking…" then he heard some of his quills being sheared off. "HEY!" click. Small braces around the armrests snapped closed. "Well, never thought we'd have to use that." Jones said. It was almost painful to see the rest. Sonic's quills were reduced to small nubs. "WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO MY HAIR?!"

Sally sat in the chair. "Oh, good afternoon, Your Highness. Just relax. This won't hurt a bit. She felt the buzzer cut her hair. After a few minutes, she had a shorter version of her original haircut. She could see much more clearly now although she missed the softness of her longer hair. She got up and let the next person get in the chair.

At the gate, a warthog pulled up. The MP guard looked at the occupants. "Identification?" "Lieutenant Vennettilli. We're the Protectors for her Highness." He held up an ID tag. The MP nodded. "Everything checks out. I'll open the gate." He tapped a button and the door slid open. The warthog rumbled in and. "Amazing they could build this in just one day." Kersiac said amazed. "I was told they just slapped prefab buildings under pelicans and albatrosses and then brought them down." Vennettilli said pulling into a parking space. He disengaged the engine and removed his sunglasses. He wore a UNSC utility uniform with his cap placed firmly forward. He had to make a good impression on the new recruits, like a good commanding officer should. At 21 years old though, they might not take him seriously. He was one of the handful of Advanced Placement officers that survived Talahan V. That might count for something.

The Mobians were running the obstacle course. Jones was at the finish line shouting insults and ordering other DIs to give punishment for people who stumbled and fell. Chris saw some Mobains trying to swing across a mid pond. Some slipped and made impressive splashes. In the long run, they simply blew their human competition away.

The rabbits led the pack, as expected. They ducked, dove and just bypassed almost anything that was thrown at them. One of the had the balls to simply dive right through the duck walk section of the course, balling up to avoid injury. He was the first to cross the line. "Hot damn!" Jones said clicking the timer. This was a special clock that was designed to rank runners. Every time one crossed the line, he clicked and the person was cataloged and his time was displayed. Others came through. Chris spotted the princess. She wore a uniform identical to his, but with rolled up sleeves and it was muddier. She crossed the line with a respectable time. Tails ran through using his twin tails for extra propulsion, which was impossible. At least Chris thought that.

Sonic and his friend Knuckles followed suit. Arguably, the thing that made Sonic run faster was Amy, who was chasing him closely. When they all crossed the finish, Jones clapped his hands. "Congratulations, you maggots! You have successfully completed the obstacle course. I have to say, I am surprised. SURPRISED THAT YOU COULDN'T HOLD A FUCKING CANDLE TO MY BOYS! What the fuck was _that_?! That was terrible! How are you expected to survive when you can't even satisfy my basic needs, which is to see you run your little asses past this line?! Dismissed, and get out of my sight!"

He turned around to see the Lieutenant. "That was the most amazing thing I have seen in my life, sir." Jones reported. "I can't believe the times I logged! Those rabbits, sheesh! I've never seen anybody so fast." Chris shrugged and folded his arms. "You may have been a little hard on them. They aren't warriors like us." "Yeah, maybe you're right. I am having trouble with that one right there." He pointed to Sonic, who was talking to the princess. "Spends half his time talking to the girl strutting like a peacock. Makes me sick." "I'll handle him. What's up for tomorrow?" "Uh…arms training. Then the day after, hand to hand combat in the boxing ring." The Lieutenant nodded. "Sounds like a good forecast. Let them have a little breather and then we'll get back to work." "Yes sir." Jackson said saluting. Vennettilli returned the salute and walked on his way.

Sally wiped her forehead with her hand. It was slick with sweat. She fanned herself with the cap she got. "Some first day, huh?" the Lieutenant said walking up to her, smiling slightly. "Could be better." "Why?" "It's so…rigorous. Believe me, I like a workout but I don't know if I can do this." "Well you're going to have to." She wheeled around. "What?" "You're going to have to put up with this. I was pissed too during my stretch which was only two years back but we have a saying here in the Marines: 'Deal with it.'"

He let the words sink in. "How…how dare you! I want out!" "I can't let you do that. You are under contract and you have to stay here." "By my authority, I am ordering you to let me go!" "You _have_ no authority here! Only your parents can override them!" "Fine! Then I'm calling my parents and I'll have your reported!" "What? No, no, no, no! You can't do that!" But she already started on a brisk run.

Throughout the compound, they made way as the two were in a mad dash for the COM station. "Hey, slow down!" Chris said. Sally wouldn't let up. If anything, he suspected that she was _enjoying_ this. _She _must_ have read my record. I wasn't exactly a boy scout in my early days_.

Somehow, he managed to catch up with her. "Wait! Slow down! I didn't mean it but I have no control to let you go! Listen, let me try to-" then, he fell to the ground. He sucked his hand where some skin peeled away. "She tripped me! She fucking _tripped _me!" a Marine helped him get to his feet. He didn't thank the young man and sped after her. Kersiac, Geri and Hecks followed him in.

Sally managed to reach the COM center. She dialed the castle and a holographic representation of the screen appeared. Her protectors froze as she looked at them with a mischievous smile. "LT, what's going on?" Chris gritted his teeth. "We are screwed is what's going on." They couldn't do anything. If they were seen trying to drag a protesting princess out of the COM center, it would be worse than a reporting. He could be dishonorably discharged for technically 'Assaulting Royalty'. _Man up. You've been in worse spots than this_."

The screen turned on and it was her father that answered. "_Ah, hello Sally. It's only been a single day. Is everything alright?_" "Well, dad. Things have been…_pretty interesting_ so far." She glanced at the Marines who flinched. "_Well, what's happened_?" the King said. "Well dad, it all started…is everything OK?" Her father was looking through some papers. He did not seem fine. "_I…Sally, things have not been going well_." "What?" "_Sweetheart, we've been hit. Quite badly for that matter. I think its Julian_."

"What happened, Dad?" "_The Land of a Million Lights. It was attacked by an orbital bombardment_." Sally gasped "How many casualties?" "_Still coming in. We're at over ten thousand, but still coming in._" Sally placed her hands on the COM board. "Oh my God…ten thousand…" "_Erm…was there something you wanted to tell me_?" Sally cleared her eyes. "No…nothing…I have to go. I'm sorry to hear that." "_It's alright. I love you. Goodbye_." "Bye." She closed the link.

"Your Highness?" Geri asked. "What is it, marine?" "Are you OK?" She sniffed. "No…no I'm not…10,000 people just died because Robotnik wants you DEAD! YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME? DEAD!" She then cried. She took a second to relax and then she said, "I need to do this. _We_ need to do this." "Yeah…this son of a bitch has a lot coming to him." Chris said cracking his knuckles.

"COMMENCE FIRING!" Jones roared. At once, every single recruit fired off their MA5K assault rifles. The report from the guns hung in the air, each one being replaced by a new one. Unfortunately, Tails wasn't issued a rifle. The quartermaster explained that he was far too young to be carrying a weapon. Instead, he was issued an OmntTech X38 Stun Gun. The non-lethal weapon was great for incapacitating people on recon and stealth missions. The gun had a 1-10 setting. One being the lowest barely shocking them while 10 had enough energy to cause a fatal electric shock. Safeties prevented this from happening unless they were turned off.

Miles practiced on fiberglass targets further down the range. Firing the stungun was similar to firing a gun, except that there was no recoil. He pulled the trigger and sent an arc of lightning towards the target. After a few seconds of sustained fire, the target caught fire. The instructor told Tails to reload. Tails thumbed the release. The battery dropped out of the weapon and he steadily put a new one into his gun. "BAM!" a voice said behind him. Tails jumped and turned to face the DI. "Congratulations, son! You've been shot!" "But…but…" "The enemy is not going to care if you take your sweet time reloading that weapon, boy! They will shoot you until you are a red, meaty, bloody PULP!"

Tails' ears drooped and his eyes went wide. He suddenly had a vision of his bleeding body with holes in it. With a few fearful tears in his eyes, he yelped and quickly reloaded with much more efficiency. The DI smiled and folded his arms. "Christ, I love my job."

The others nailed away at the targets. Sonic had the lowest average with some shots missing the targets completely. Knuckles wasn't very strong but he got the job done. Amy was even doing well, working her way to fifth place average. Sally led the pack though. She pegged the targets when they popped up. Her hearing was reduced to a buzz and she could barely see with the flash of shell casings shooting out of her weapon, but she failed to disappoint. When her mag went dry, she thumbed the release and inserted a new one. The princess cocked the firing pin and relished the metallic _clack_.

"Oh yeah, now we're talking!" she clicked full auto on and pulled the trigger. A continuous tongue of hot gas barked sending lead rounds spinning into the targets. Amazingly she managed to hit most of them.

The Lieutenant was watching from the sidelines. He heard every single _tink_ as the brass casings hit the gravel and he heard every single bark of the assault weapons. "This is turning out better than we expected. These Mobians are fighting machines!" Jones nodded. "Yes, sir. Colonel Farley has great things in store for these men." "Hmm…you're right. He does. Excuse me; I have to see the colonel now."

"OK, ladies! Pack it up! We're done for the day!" Firing stopped abruptly as the Mobians stowed their weapons. "Good work people! Rest up! Tomorrow we get to the nitty gritty! Fight training starts at 0900 sharp!"

Sonic shook his hands. "Man, my hands are numb. I can't feel them!" "What?!" Knuckles said. "I haven't been able to hear anything for the last half hour!" Amy rotated her right shoulder. "I don't know guys. My shoulder has been pounded by that gun. I think I need to see a doctor." Sally shrugged. "Yeah, my fingers and hands are numb, but I have to say…that was awesome!" "Hmm…sounds like you were cut out for this." Amy said with an inquisitive tone. "I think so."

The next day came soon enough. The same old same old exercises took place during the day. In the midday though, they made their way towards the boxing ring. The ring was slightly elevated. Jones jogged ahead. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen! This here is a boxing ring! I will select one of you to engage in the ancient art of hand to hand combat." The evil smile told the rest who he had already chosen. "Your Highness, mind coming up here?" Sally stepped forward. "You wanted to see me, Sarge?"

"Yes. Private Acorn, please follow me to the ring. The rest of you retards will practice down here. Sergeants Bill and Westly will be instructing you on basic military hand to hand combat techniques. GET TO IT!" The Marine recruits moved into pairs as the other sergeants ordered.

"OK. In this ring, we are not friends." "We never were friends, Sarge." "Good point. You're wearing shorts and a tee?" "Yeah." "Then you'll want to strip out of that. You need to move more freely." She nodded and unbuttoned her uniform. She wore a white T-shirt which was soaked with perspiration under her arms and around her neck. She unbuckled her belt and slid the pants off. She wore a silk pair of short. Jones likewise and both were ready to fight.

"Gloves?" Jones said. "Yeah. That's preferable." A red pair of boxing gloves was tossed to her and she slipped them on. "You holler if I'm acting too hard!" She saw that he would not let up in the slightest. "Bring it on, human. Bring it on." "And…fight!"

Jones and Acorn danced in a few circles. "Come on, bitch! Come on, bitch! Hit me!" Sally took a swipe. It cut the air but she couldn't hit him. Jones sideswiped and knocked Sally on the side of the head. She grunted and wobbled. Jones took two quick punches to her chest and knocked her back Sally steadied herself. She sent two punches his way but they were deflected. Jones countered with a heavy uppercut. The marine's fist brought her off the ground and the princess hit the mat with a bouncing thud.

She gasped. Her chest heaved. The adrenaline was still fresh in her bloodstream which prevented her from feeling pain right that instant. Surprising herself, she preformed a successful no hands kip-up. Sally had done kip-ups before, but this was something much more difficult. Jones saw no amazing thing and nailed her in the abdomen. Sally gripped her gut in pain.

"Come on, bitch! Come on, bitch! You can do it!" He whacked Sally on the side of her head. Sally's mouthguard popped out of her mouth and bounced on the mat. "I can't do it Sarge! You've been pummeling me all week! How the hell can I beat you in the ring?" Everything from my head to my ass is bruised!" Jones offered words of encouragement. Well…as much words of encouragement from a DI you could get.

"Come on furry! You can do it! I know you can!" The words got Sally fired up. She launched a punch but reversed it mid action. However, Jones seemed to sense this as well. He blocked the punch and countered by sending another fist into her side. Some Marines gathered around the ring. Many of them started to make bets with each other on who would win the fight. Right now, the odds seemed to be in Jones' favor.

Just when it seemed at its worse, Sally had an idea. It was a risky idea, but it may serve her well. She loosened her hold on her body and let Jones hit her again. She stressed her muscles to their breaking point when Jones punched her right between her breasts. It hurt, but she proceeded with her plan.

Sally doubled over. She hyperventilated, making straining sounds as she faked her own choking. She was apparently selling it too. Many marines started to look worried and a few considered jumping into the ring themselves to make sure she was OK Jones took a step towards her. "Princess…?"

That was close enough.

Sally jumped up and slammed Jones right beneath his chin. She felt his jaw creak and forced the man a full inch off the ground. He landed and while stunned, she initiated lightning jabs at his body. His face and ribs took the most of the pummeling. She only kept on punching, her adrenaline pushing her on. She could have sworn she just had a dose of testosterone injected though.

Jones brought his gloves up. "I GIVE! I GIVE! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Sally stopped the pounding. She breathed as she caught her breath. Her chest heaved in and out, her arms twitching, begging for more action. Jones brought himself back up.

It wasn't pretty. To say the least, Jones' face looked like a rare steak with patches of red showing up here and there. He had a black eye and a trickle of blood came from his nose. He took a deep breath. "Good job, furry. Good job. You done good."

Acorn felt like the queen of the universe after that fight. Jones never stood a chance. Although she let herself know that before that brilliant, brilliant plan, she was just as defenseless. "Holy _shit_, did you see Jones' face after that?" Sonic said laughing. "Looked like it blew up from the inside!" another marine said. "Fuck, look at that blood!"

Sally saw with a small pang of regret that Jones was standing outside the infirmary with a bandage getting wrapped around his nose. The medic dripped some iodine onto his wounds and Jones engaged in a roar of expletives towards the young doctor. A Mobian called out, "Hey Sarge! Nice look!" He may have been far away, but Jones screamed loud enough, "FUCK YOU!" They all laughed and went back to the barracks. Sally lay on her bunk, too tired to undress. She hit the pillow feeling a sense of self-accomplishment. She felt…nice…

In the setting sunlight, Colonel Farley's cigar stood out in the shadows and his glasses sparkled in the light. "So, that's your plan? A mixed squad?" "Sir, if I may. Let me point out I was assigned with four other men to guard this woman. _She _seems to work well when coordinated with her other friends. I feel that this could be…beneficial to the squad." Farley sat back. "Technically this is not my jurisdiction. Only the Admiral has the ability to commission squads like this. It's been a military tradition for a few hundred years." "And sir, since this these people were apart of a special forces group which operated outside the normal military, I was wondering…" He gritted his teeth. It was unlikely that Farley would even _consider _it. "…that this squad be granted the same power?"

Farley paused. He actually put his hand to his chin and took a deep breath. "Lieutenant, I have read your dossier. You have a fine pair of balls on you, back on Talahan, you proved yourself a soldier many, many times over. I also understand that many things I have heard involving you and the 182nd as myths tried and true. Let me say this much. I'll _consider_ your offer. As for your mixed squad, I say that this could be a great social experiment, as well as a necessity. Congratulations, Lieutenant. Do you have a name for your squad?" "Actually I do." He smiled. "What do you think of Omega Squad?"

Farely shrugged, "Sounds a bit cliché but, I like it. I'll put the word in to Andsworth and we'll figure out the details. You are dismissed, Lieutenant." Vennettilli saluted. "Thank you, sir!" "Don't mention it, son. Just don't get a fat head over it."


	11. Chapter 11: The First Wave

Chapter 11: The First Wave

June 15th, 3234, 1215 hours

Fort Acorn

Great Forest

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Sally shouted at the top of her lungs. The entire mess hall froze mid meal and looked at the group. Chris took a small, nervous sip of soda. "I may have asked to form a mixed species squad in which we would be sent on the highest priority missions." "Is that it?" the princess asked through gritted teeth. "Well…no. Apparently these are the missions that…erm…not many people come back from…"

"YOU MURDERED ME, HUMAN!" Sally screamed lunging across the table grabbing Chris by the throat. "YOU JUST _COULDN'T _HELP YOURSELF COULDN'T YOU?!" "Sally…cannot breathe…" "WHAT DO YOU WANT?! HONOR? GLORY? PUSSY?!" She then let up. Her eyes widened and a look of sudden epiphany shone. "Oh my goodness the sun comes up at last! So that's what you're trying to do! You were trying to get close to me!" She released him. "Princess, that's not what this was about! You have a team that's been infiltrating this city since you were _kids_! You're adults now and Robotnik isn't going to hold back! You think he was bad then? Think of what he's going to do to you now! We have fucking _starships_ filled to the hatches with _missiles_ and _MAC rounds_. If he doesn't take that as a threat, who will?!"

"Come on! Get off him!" Jones barked. He grabbed Sally around the waist and pulled her. She went quietly. "Sir, what should I do with her?" Chris rubbed his neck. "Excuse me?" "She assaulted a senior officer. What should I do with her?" Chris shrugged and straightened his cap. "I refuse to press charges. Let her go, Sergeant." Jones raised an eyebrow. "Alright. You're the boss." He let go. "No offense, your Highness. Nothing personal." She nodded. "It's OK, Jones. Just part of the job."

"Nothing to see here, you lumps!" Jones barked. "Get back to filling your yaps!" The marines complied and turned to their meals. "Why the _hell_ did you do that?" Sally hissed. "Because you were just angry. It happens some times. I remember when I was younger I beat, heh, I love this memory; I beat the shit out of my commanding officer. Truth be told, he started it but I still got busted for it. A week in the brig was it?"

"So, your motivation was to bring us all together to form an elite strike team?" "A mixed _species_ elite strike team! This is both a social experiment and a military tactic. We're trying to mix both Mobians and Humans to see how they perform in combat. This has been attempted many times in history, but they have…fallen short with a few notable exceptions. This could lead to something amazing." Sally tilted her head. "Really?" "Yes. We already have permission on both sides for this. We are the first of these teams designated 'Omega Squad'." "Lieutenant, how many teams are lined up?" "We're planning over a hundred. We're the pilot program."

"That…sounds…EPIC!" Tails said jumping up. "Think of it! We're the first of a dynasty! Humans and anthropomorphics working together!" "Stand down, Private. We're still going to finish training. Three weeks from now we'll be getting our first assignment."

There was suddenly a siren on the air, a wailing sound that he heard many times before. "Oh no…" Chris said. "Not again." Not since Talahan… "AIR RAID!" a guard yelled. Explosions dotted the horizon and dots expanded into attack craft. "EVERYBODY OUT!" Vennettilli screamed. "GO, GO, GO!" Marines stood up to run. A laser blast tore through the roof and landed about a hundred feet back. Unfortunate Marines were caught in the blast. The fortunate were vaporized. The unfortunate were badly burned, screaming as their injuries stung. "MOVE! FUCKING MOVE!" Jones screamed, jumping on top of a table pointing to the exit.

"_ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNEL, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, ALL MARINES, EVACUATE THE FACILITY. F-29s PILOTS, SCRAMBLE IMMEDIETELY. GUNNERY TURRETS, YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO FIRE ON ONCOMING AIRCRAFT. MECHS HAVE PERMISSION TO POWER UP AND-_" The COM tower exploded in a shower of metal. The hulk crashed into the ground with a column of smoke rising into the sky. "Princess!" Chris said. "Where the fuck is she?! _PRINCESS!_" Among the cries, there was a small, "_LIEUTENANT!_"

Chris worked his way through the mass of men. Some of them got guns and started to shoot at the flying robots in vain. They were the first to fall. Machine gun rounds tore into them leaving bloody splotches on the ground.

Sally gasped in fear. A man fell to the ground. He grabbed onto her pant leg. "Please…help me!" Sally's eyes widened in shock as she saw his entire lower body was missing. She screamed and shook him off. The man gargled, blood bubbled in his mouth and he died. "Your Highness!" A voice said, heavily accented. Kersiac ran up to her. "Your Highness, I've got you!" "Vere?!" "_Da,_ Your Highness! I'm here to take you away!" "Where's the Lieutenant?!" "He'll be here. For now, we need to move to the far gate!"

In his hand, he had a long tube that Sally assumed was a rocket launcher. "Anti-air missile." He explained with a smile. Picked one up as soon as I heard the raid!" One fighter swooped low. "I think I may have to use it. GET DOWN!" Sally hit the dirt. Kersiac sighted his weapon lining up the crosshair. The weapon beeped which signaled a lock. He pulled the trigger and a 120mm AA rocket zoomed from the tube and headed for the sky. Several sabots blew off and the missile streaked even faster. The fighter attempted to veer off, but it was too late. The missile struck under its wing and exploded. The fighter corkscrewed and zoomed over their heads. It landed in a bunch of trees and blew up." "That's the way we do it, bitches!" Kersiac crowed.

"Run! I'm right behind you!" He shouted to Sally. She nodded and turned to run for it. He squeezed off another rocket and hit the second fighter head on. It blew in half. One wing landed fifty feet to his left and buried itself in the mud. The second half spun into the trees. The third one however was much too big for him.

The ship looked like a heavy assault carrier. It was well over three hundred meters long and hovered over the camp. He roared a battle cry and launched rockets like crazy. Some found their marks and blew apart bulkheads and destroyed. The weapon ran dry and he tossed it aside. Vere pulled out his M39 Beretta and pumped off rounds. It did little good. Numerous turrets turned to track him. Kersiac dropped his gun and attemped to run, but the turrets opened fire and hit Kersiac in the abdomen. Sally screamed as Vere hit the ground in a bloody splash. She ran forwards and dragged him behind a truck. She looked at him. "Vere! No! You can't die! No! Stay with me!" Kersiac coughed blood and laughed. "Heh…I could have stayed in the Old Country, could have stayed and been safe." He laughed and felt his wounds. "We'll find help!" Sally said with tears in her eyes. "But I never would have met you then, _vladarica_." He looked at Sally with a sad smile. "Make sure the others watch out for you…_Dobar_, Sally._ Dobar, i hvala_." He exhaled and his head fell back. Behind his helmet goggles, Vere's eyes were glazed over. Sally fell back and started hyperventilating.

"Oh Jeez, oh God! Oh my God! Oh _fuck_!" "I hear something!" said a voice from beyond her hiding place. "_Princess_!" the marines rounded the corner. "Your Highness!" Lieutenant Vennettilli said. He then saw Vere's body. "Oh Jesus. Vere." She bit her lip. "He saved my life!" Her lip trembled and she started to cry. "Hecks, get her out of here." Chris said. "Geri, grab his tags." They both nodded. Hecks touched Sally's shoulder. "Come on, your highness. Let's get out of here." She nodded and grabbed his arm. "Please…I don't want to be here." "Alright. Come with me. I'll get you out of this place."

The turrets started to ping away at the truck. Bullet divots emerged on the cargo container. "Orders, sir?" Chris noted the turret. "We don't have anything big enough to take that down!" A couple 'Mechs lumbered outside. They were cut down by laser blasts. Their dead hulks were still. Their pilots didn't eject which meant they were dead.

"Everything we have will just be cut down, everything." "So do you have a plan?" Sally asked, on the verge of panicking. "Yeah. Geri, Hecks, go with the princess. I'll give covering fire." "Covering fire?! That thing will kill you _dead_!" Geri said. "Just do it! I'll be right out!" "Yes, sir." Chris knelt near the edge of cover, assault rifle in hand. "Ready? On three! One, two, three. COVERING FIRE!" He leapt out and squeezed off bursts. The bullets pinged on the ship's body. "Go! Move, move, _move_!"

The three set off running across open ground. Sally stumbled. "Keep going! Don't look back!" Chris screamed. A turret unfortunately had the idea to change targets. It fired at the group. The blast hit Geri in the leg. His limb vaporized and he howled. Before he could cradle the leg, a second blast reduced his upper torso to a skeleton. "NO!" Chris screamed and ran for him. Bad choice.

He picked himself up off the ground and fired shots at the turret. One of the machine gun turrets trained on him. He barely made it past Geri's corpse when a small round ricochet off the ground and hit him in the kneecap. "ARGH!" He yelled. "AAAHH!" He then said attempting to put weight on it. Chris limped to the next available cover. "LIEUTENANT!" Hecks said. "Let's go!" Chris urged. They ran for it. A trio of F-29 Hellcats roared over their heads and engaged the Assault Carrier. "Thank you flyboys!" Hecks said. This gave them the chance to escape. Chris lost his balance and hit the ground. He slammed the ground in pain. "OH FUCK! IT FUCKING KILLS!" "Grab him." Hecks said to Sally. She nodded and picked up the man and slung an arm over her shoulder. "You OK, LT?" Chris snarled. "I've been better!"

"Alright, find a stick, this is gonna hurt." Chris found a long twig and lodged it between his teeth. "Hit me!" he said and bit down hard. Jones took a pair of tweezers and stuck them into the wound. Chris writhed in pain and howled. He bit down harder. "Come on, stay still. Almost done!" He found the bullet and grabbed it. Unfortunately he hit a nerve. Chris bit so hard he broke the twig. He screamed loud, the trees echoing the painful cries. "Got it!" Jone said pulling the tweezers out. A small lead bullet was in the instrument's grasp. The Sergeant then put biofoam over the wound. Sally asked, "What's that?"

"Biofoam. Means exactly what it sounds like. It's foam that's a sealing, clotting, and repairing agent. You can sew up a cut or fill a laceration. Biofoam will pull you through. Chris calmed down slightly. "Oh yeah…that's the stuff."

The Hellcats were not faring well. One was shot down the minute they engaged. The second was suffering engine damage and the leader was panicking at the yoke. His wingmate took a laser blast. His plane flipped over and ploughed into the forest. The leader then looked into the center of the ship. A red ball was forming. As all soldiers know, Red is the worst color of the spectrum. He tried to pull up but the beam caught his plane. It tinted red for a second and exploded.

The Marines watched in horror as the camp was reduced to a crater. Planes came from nowhere though and assaulted the Cruiser. Apparently the local military took notice to the robot ship. A hundred miles from the city was too close. Missile impacts splashed across what they suspected to be shields. Suddenly, a streak came from the sky and impacted the Assault Cruiser. The Cruiser broke apart and vanished in a flash of light.

"Holy shit." Jones said. "It's Eggman." Sally said. "I know it, I know it!" "Where did the missiles come from?" Hecks asked. "Looks…like the _Indomitable_ felt left out!" Vennettilli said leaning on a tree. "_Attention, are there any survivors? Somebody respond!_" Jackson grabbed the radio. "This is Jones. We have survivors. Estimated fifty Marines. We need dustoff. We have wounded, repeat, we have wounded." "_Copy that, we'll send Pelicans for you_."

"This was uncalled for." Chris said. "He had no right to do that…" Sally knelt down to Chris' eye level. "He doesn't care. You told me that. Doctor Ivo Robotnik is a genius, but he is insane. Do you know what he wants to do with this planet when we're dead?" "Indulge me." "Strip mine. He has no relatives, no heirs; he just wants to burn as many worlds as he can to expand his empire. Do you know what your appearance has done?"

"I don't know." "It's _bolstered_ his confidence! It's caused him to build more and more. Take that cruiser! I have _never_ seen that model before! It's too close too! We're not even a hundred miles away from the city and he has a fleet coming after us. He killed two of us already." "Yeah. He has." "Step up your game. You have to protect me." "You seem very prepared to dump responsibilities on us little people." "That's your job isn't-" she clamped her hand over her mouth. "What did you say?"

Chris actually stood up. He pointed to Sally using a long branch as his cane. "You don't care about us at all! Is that all we are, cannon fodder? We just throw ourselves in front of the guns and hope that we pile high enough to protect you?" "No! Lieutenant! Before Kersiac died, he said-" "I don't give a fuck! I will not be insulted like that! You will not treat my men like they're nothing. How dare you…In fact, I was sorry I was ever paired up with a spoiled brat like you!" He turned to limp away. Hecks looked at Sally.

"Look, Princess. Chris has had a hard life. His parents died when he was 16. He was devastated by the death. Then he was drafted by the military two years later. He saw many brave people die on Talahan V, a planet where we had a war a couple years back. He lost his best friend on that rock. We all lost someone we cared about.

"You see, Sally, that's the thing about Marines. We're brothers and sisters. If one dies, the other gets affected. Sure we're all soldiers and when our number's up, our number's up! Just remember to be considerate of other people's feelings. I don't like being talked down to like that either. I happen to have a girlfriend that cares about me and I don't want her to know I died needlessly. Your Highness…" Hecks began to walk away when Sally said, "Wait, Private!"

"Yeah?" "How exactly did they die? The Lieutenant's parents?" "He never told me anything. Hell I wasn't there when it happened. Why would he tell me?" He turned to look at the sky. Chris was sitting by a tree watching the remaining jets circle the area where the camp once stood. She decided to walk over. "Lieutenant?" "What the hell do _you_ want?" "I just wanted to ask…how did your parents die?" He looked at her with a curious glance. "You have an expert sense of timing, you know that? People just died. Two people, whom I thought I was going to get to know, DIED. This entire camp, burned to the goddamned ground! I don't think this would be the best time to ask me about my life of misfortunes!" He grasped his kneecap. Apparently stress made the wound hurt. "Just beat it. Please. Ask me anywhere but here and now!" She frowned. "Alright, I'll go."

Pelicans descended from the sky, one with a Red Cross spraypainted on the side. The tires descended and Marines flocked from cover. "_Let's go! In the Pelicans_!" The pilots said over the loudspeakers. "_The medical pelican is for the wounded only! Get the hell off and into your own transports_!"

Chris hobbled over to the medical dropship. A crew chief helped him into a seat along with other Marines. To his surprise he saw Tails there. "Hey, yo, Miles!" Tails opened his eyes and groaned. "Lieutenant?" "How you doing, kid?" "My head hurts." Chris saw that a gash was on his forehead. It had clotted but dry blood stuck to his brown fur. "You'll be OK, kid. You just got a scratch compared to some of these guys." A gurney was wheeled to the dropship. A wounded human Marine was writhing as a red splotch was forming around his chest. "Get him stable!" A medic said. "Yes sir!" the crew chief replied. A few minutes later, the Pelican was filled up and it started to rise into the sky. Chris let his head hit the chair and he fell asleep. It had been a long day for all of them.

This was an act of war. Nothing could redeem this. It seemed that Doctor Robotnik was serious about his claim to declare open war on the humans. They attacked a human training ground, destroyed the training ground and in the process, killed hundreds of young men and women both human and mobian! Andsworth angrily rounded the bridge of the _Indomitable_. They were lucky to launch those missiles when they did. He had a feeling that they would have just burnt up on reentry anyway. Casualty reports just came in. From recoverable evidence, they determined that about three hundred seventy nine people died. Unfortunately they couldn't find any more bodies other than ashes. Whispers in the wind, gone forever.

"Lieutenant Velo, open a link to the palace." "Aye sir." Jack responded. He promptly began opening a channel. A video conversation started. King Max answered the call. "_Admiral? Have you just heard_?" "I _saw_ it, your Highness. We were the ones who destroyed that cruiser before it had the chance to do more damage!" "_Right. Gerome, this has gone on long enough. We can't simply turn a blind eye to what this madman's doing. We need to take _action_ and take him down_!"

"I agree! I think it's time we started deploying our new 'investment', your Highness." "_Make it so, Admiral. We need to win this war. We aren't cut out for this_." "Oh believe me, your Highness. Eggman won't know what hit him. He just picked the wrong humans to mess with."


	12. Chapter 12: Forced Deployment

Chapter 12: The Forced Deployment

June 16th, 3234, 1414 hours

UNSC _Indomitable_ (CVN-121)

Briefing Room

"The entire camp was reduced to rubble as you all know." Andsworth said He was in a video conference call with the Mobian House of Parliament. They called themselves the "Council". Members of many species were sitting at a table, which was displayed on the screen. It seemed to meld seamlessly with the table on the UNSC's side of the screen. "_Yes, Admiral. We have reviewed the satellite footage that was given to us_." A badger in the center said. "_The death toll was noted higher than three hundred people but unfortunately, no more remains could be recovered, correct_?"

"Yes sir. That's correct." "_Then why would you consider establishing a counterattack_?" A female lynx on the far end said. "They killed men and women! MY men and women, not to mention dozens of your own people!" "_We have taken that into consideration, Admiral_." A man with the face of a wolf on the other side said. "_It's true that we have lost good people in an unprovoked attack by the doctor, but we feel that it does not merit a full-scale counterattack_."

"Are…you…blind?!" Andsworth roared slamming his fist on the table. A glass of whisky bounced and a small drop fell on the chestnut paneling. "_He's tense._" The lynx said. "_Of course he is. He's a human. It's only expected._" The wolf said. The lynx hissed, "_Please, Samuel! None of that racist garbage here!_" Councilor Samuel did not look pleased with the lynx's rebuke. "_You're one to talk, Narcissa. You are not so fond of these apes either._" "This is not the purpose of the meeting!" The badger said. There was a slight silence. "_My apologies, Councilor_." Samuel said. "_Mine too_." Narcissa added. "_Admiral. We have decent reasoning behind our decision._" The badger said. "_Ever since you have arrived, we have detected much higher levels of industrial activity planet-wide, even off-planet. We believe that Kintobor is planning an attack, and a large one at that_."

"We've dealt with attacks before." Andsworth shrugged, smiling in a smug sort of way. "_This is different. You have your technology and we have ours. Julian has helped stem off technology that has been in use since the 22__nd__ Century. The ships that originally came here were stripped, built on, and remade into a city. From this, weapons of mass destruction, spaceships and we strongly suspect an FTL drive have come out of the woodwork._" "Still, it's nothing we couldn't handle. We defended Earth until the very end. We survived, but only because one of our best sacrificed himself to save the world." "_Human, this is Earth, just one that got along without _your_ species' influence_." The wolf councilor said barring his teeth. "_Samuel!_" Narcissa said. "_She's right, councilor. One more outburst like that, and you will be ejected from the Parliament Chambers_." The badger said bitterly.

"_We merit your survival, Admiral, but this is _our_ planet. If you were to provoke Kintobor into total war, imagine what the outcome could be._" "Name them off." Gerome said short and sweet. "_For the first part, if he _does_ have nuclear weapons, he will no doubt launch them straight at the capital and irradiate the entire continent; maybe beyond if the radiation catches a wind current_." "If that's true why didn't he launch them already?" Narcissa nodded in approval. "_That is a good point, human. That was the view I contented myself with_." The badger looked at the lynx and fixed his glasses. "_Yes, but that theory was discounted by the Council for…political reasons_." Narcissa narrowed her eyes.

"_Next could be a long standing conflict that would lead to the total annihilation of the planet's plant and material supply, which could eventually lead to the planet becoming a dead rock_." The badger continued. "That'll take years…centuries…Robotnik would need to be a Methuselah of a man to live that long." The wolf leaned forward. "_You have no idea how this man works do you, Admiral? You don't know what lengths he'll go to exterminate us_."

"I hear this tossed around a lot yet I have no idea why he even hates you so much." "_We don't know either._" Narcissa replied sadly. "_He just wants us all dead. He'll kill you too as well as you have plainly seen yesterday. We strongly suspect that he _is_ striving to be a 'Methuselah of a Man'. He may be striving to achieve immortality_."

At this, Andsworth laughed. Samuel snarled angrily. "_Look at that. Just like a human would!_" "_Councilor…_" the wolf raised his palms. "_I am just stating a fact. This human has no concept of the Doctor_." "_He…has…no…IDEA_. _It is not his fault_!" the badger roared. Gerome said, "Did I call at a bad time?" "_No, not at all, it is just Councilor Samuel here has a fond _dislike_ of the human race_." The wolf said, "_Let's just say I am familiar with your work_." "Whatever happened here is not our fault. It was the humans living _here_ at the time!" "_Let's get back on topic gentlemen…_" The badger said.

"_Now then, I am sure that you see what a threat this man is. I think it would be best to dismiss the whole matter until later when we find a better solution._" "I can't do that, Councilor. People here will _need_ us!" "_Admiral, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but an army isn't the answer here. Unless you have a better solution, this meeting is concluded_."

Just then, an idea popped into his head.

"Yeah, I do." "_Let's hear it!_" Narcissa said with an air of anticipation. "You said that an _army_ was not the best course of action." The badger raised an eyebrow and straightened his glasses. "_Yes, go on, I'm listening._" "How about a _smaller force_? One that can travel under the radar?"

The council took this in for a moment. Then, Narcissa said, "_Of course!_" but Samuel interjected. "_I know what you're thinking and its madness! We can't afford it!_" "_You're apathetic, Samuel. This is the best choice that we have_." "_They barely even had any training! The camp blew up three _days_ after they arrived_." The badger nodded. "_I am with Councilor Samuel on this one._" Narcissa gaped. "_But the others have already been on many high-profile missions, easily rated among the highest risk as well, and the commanding officer has had considerable training as well. He has fought many battles and is generally well-liked with his men_." Samuel nodded but said, "_Yes, but I don't feel that we should have our own mixing with 'them'. What if it gets even worse_?"

"Define 'worse'." Andsworth said with gritted teeth. "Councilor." Samuel said, "_I…Breeding…_" the other two council members looked at Samuel. "_That is none of your concern, Samuel. This is a social experiment, not a breeding program. What they do with each other is nothing for you to judge_." "_Oh yeah, Social experiment. How social are you planning it to be…?_" "_I agree, Admiral._" The badger said cutting the wolf off. "_You win. We will commission Omega Squad to have its first mission. We know the key to Julian winning the war is the Chaos Emeralds. If we can secure them, we have a chance._" "You want us to get them?" "_Correct. We think that Julian has one or two but we have pinpointed the location of a few._" On a planetary map on another screen, five red dots spanned the continents. Two in where the Sahara Desert was, one where Australia was, one in this version of Brazil, and the last one in…New York…

"_The Freedom Fighters operate outside the normal chain of command. We are not expecting them to report to you or us. We do however stress that you have some control over your men._" "Agreed." "_Where you go is your choice. Just remember that the clock is ticking. If you don't help us get those Emeralds back…things could look bad for us_." "_Underline 'bad'_." Samuel said. "_Good luck, Admiral. We'll be here if you need us. Councilor, I need to have a talk with you…_"

The link terminated and that left the map of the planet on the main viewscreen. He stood there silently. He then picked up his glass and drained it of whisky in a single knock. He grabbed the bottle again and filled it up a few fingers. Robot armies, chaotic madmen vying for immortality, and everything else in between. He was just an admiral. He made the call to the bridge. "Lieutenant Velo?" "_Aye, Admiral. What can I do for you_?" "I need you to gather all members of Omega Squad. There's a roster in the database. Call them to the briefing room." "_Aye-aye, sir. Stand by_."

Across the ship, the intercom called out the members of Omega Squad. Chris was still in the medbay getting his leg wrapped in a splint. It would allow his kneecap to repair as well as keep him fighting at a great combat effectiveness. "_Attention, would First Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli report to the briefing room at once, this is an urgent call._" That was his name all right.

"Thanks a lot, Doc." He said getting up to leave. He could actually put some pressure on the leg and it wouldn't hurt! "Just try not to get shot again." The Doctor said. "Your petty injuries are less important than the rest coming up from the Fort…" The Lieutenant saw the other Marines coming in with much more serious injuries. "Yeah. You have a full day ahead of you, doc." He opened the door and jogged down the hall.

He punched in the elevator for Deck 3, where the Briefing room was located. There were also more recreational facilities such as an observation post, a gym, a swimming pool and a day care center for passengers' children. He marched down the hall and bumped into Hecks. "Hey LT." Hecks said. "Talk to me, Private. What's going on?" "Well, the only reason we would be called to the Briefing Room is if we were about to get an assignment." The Lieutenant nodded. "Yeah." He sighed and asked, "How are you taking Vere and Hank's death?"

"Well, they were soldiers. Soldiers die, sir." Chris nodded. It was a sad fact of the battlefield. It was like a casino: The house always wins. If you managed to get out alive, the memories haunt you forever and you die inside. The house always wins. Chris had yet to die on the inside or out. It was only a matter of time for him. When he flatlined was entirely up to him.

The Briefing Room has a glass door with a diagonal crack in between. It hissed open almost ghost-like. Sally was already there sitting in a chair. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stood to. "At ease, guys." Chris said. Andsworth stood at the head of the table. "Are we ready to proceed, Lieutenant?" "Yes, sir." "How is your leg?" Chris smirked. "I've been better. Been shot only once before and _that_ was a real picnic." The Admiral nodded. "You'd better take a seat." The two humans sat down. A holographic map of Mobius appeared. The door suddenly tinted red, signifying that the room was sealed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Council has concluded that after the events that took place yesterday afternoon, we have decided to send Omega Squad into action. Granted, I realize that you all have very little military training under your belt. At the time of Fort Acorn's destruction you could fire guns and have basic fighting skills. Important parts of combat but you need more.

"Under normal circumstances the Council would suggest that we just build another base and start over." He clapped his hands. "We just don't have that luxury." The door beeped. "Who is it?" "_Sir, I have His Highness_ _waiting outside_." A guard reported. "Send him in." Andsworth nodded. The door opened and King Max walked in, accompanied by a Marine MP.

"Max! Welcome! You should have let me know you were aboard!" "Admiral, I would have loved to but I just wanted to see this ship for myself. She is very well put together." "She doesn't look her age, Highness." "That's even better! Sally!" The King ran to his daughter. "Sally! You're alive! Your mother and I were so worried!" "Dad…" "No. Do you realize what happened yesterday?! Many people died!" "Dad…you're embarrassing me in front of the _brass_."

Andsworth chuckled. He had never been called _brass_ before, at least not to his face. "Don't worry, little miss. My nephew is embarrassed when I act all uncle-like in front of him. Your dad was just worried." "I guess I shouldn't be. Sally has been gallivanting with her friends since she was a kid into places where she shouldn't have been." "Well, your Majesty, this is the type of thing we need." "Yes. I wanted to be present for the briefing. Please continue." "Gladly, your Highness."

"Doctor Julian Kintobor aka Doctor Ivo Robotnik aka Doctor Eggman has declared full out open war with us Humans. He made his ultimatum about a few days back with the attack on a small squadron of our fighters in which one man died from injuries. Now he seems to have committed outright murder with the decimation of the camp. He seems to be after the Chaos Emeralds."

"The Chaos Emeralds were scattered since Eggman was last beaten." Sonic said. "We hid them ourselves all over the planet." "I guess you didn't do a good enough job." Andsworth said. "He's found two of them." "Two? That's nothing." The hedgehog said. "To you maybe. He's already created an assault cruiser. That's just one ship. Imagine; he probably has a full armada with him." Sonic stopped talking.

"The Council has _asked_ us to cooperate with them in finding the Chaos Emeralds. I take it you approve with the decision, Max?" "I do." The king said nodding. "Your team seems the best suited. The Freedom Fighters have the best all around familiarity with the planet and these two gentlemen have combat experience necessary to keep you all alive." He said indicating Vennettilli and Hecks. "Our goal: Find the remaining Chaos Emeralds before Robotnik does. Your first location will be the ruins of Old Megaopolis."

The world map zoomed in on a familiar peninsula. "Wow." Chris breathed. The satellite photo showed the New York State peninsula, right where Manhattan once stood…Broken buildings marked the skyline and the Empire State Building was the highest intact structure standing… "Liberty Island…" Chris breathed noting the broken statue, standing proud among the wreckage, half her face missing and the torch long torn from her copper hands.

"She shouldn't be standing… None of this should be standing after ten thousand years." Chris said. Tails said, "This place was the first to fall to alien attack according to salvaged Human records. Apparently when the civilization was bombed to extinction, something kept the buildings up, but only here and in a couple other places, Old Francisco, Old Vancouver, The Old Cape, Old Toronto and Old Minsk. Everything else is gone…" "We believe that the Emerald is located somewhere in the city. We don't know where exactly but I'm sure you could find it out. We'll be sending Pelicans out as soon as we can. And Lieutenant? Buck up son. You're a soldier, stop whining. Remember, this isn't the Earth you know…" Chris saluted. "Yes sir." "Good. Launch will commence in two hours. Be ready for then."

Sally watched the human leave the room. Sonic said, "Why's he so attached to Megaopolis?" "He called it New York." Miles added. "He also named off Liberty Island. I guess he lived there." Sally nodded and crossed her arms. "Then it would explain his feelings toward the place."

"Err…Admiral…perhaps we should reconsider on the assignment to Megaopolis. It seems to have psychological effects on that young man. Perhaps another force…?" "No. The Council only gave me permission to send this one team. Nothing more, nothing less." "I'm the King! I can overturn that decision. It's my right." "The Council had a point when they gave me reign of this assignment. They said that this was the best team for the job and those two men were some of the best soldiers I had. The mission goes on as planned, Max." The King nodded. "Very well. I trust your judgment, Admiral. Just be wary. Those humans won't like walking into the ruins of their own city…"

Pelican Victor 101 was tasked with transporting Omega Team on all their missions. Lieutenant Carol Green was in charge of piloting the ship along with Flight Officer Greg Pathos. Green slid her helmet over her head, making sure the visor covered her eyes. "Heads up everyone. We disengage in five seconds."

There was a _thump_ and the hull of the _Indomitable_ started sliding upwards. Victor 101 was attached on the outside of the supercarrier, presumably for faster transaction time than the launch bay. The inside of the ship had zero gravity, causing the occupants to float away at the sudden movement. This caught some of the others off guard since many of them had never been in space before. "Hang on!" Green advised opening the throttle. The engines rumbled and the dropship sped towards the upper hemisphere. "Prepare for atmospheric reentry!" Pathos said making sure the heat shields was working perfectly. The pelican adjusted its angle to 33 degrees, the ideal approach angle for reentry. Orange flames licked the viewport and it suddenly got a whole lot hotter in the cockpit. The Pelican rocked as it cut into the planet's atmosphere causing some of the guys in the back to bounce around. "Easy up there!" The Lieutenant said. Green stabilized her descent. "OK, we have it under control. We're in the stratosphere."

The orange flames disappeared and soon, they were right next to a fluffy white Pileus cloud. Cirrus unicinus bands swept across the horizon. Below them, a storm was taking progress. "Perfect, just perfect." Pathos griped. "As if we don't have enough on our minds." "Relax Greg." Green said pushing her yoke further forward. "It's just a little rain."

They broke through the lower cloud layer and the sun disappeared. There was wispy white in front of the windshield with tiny droplets beading here and there. Green turned on the dropship's windshield wipers and the rain was swept away from view. A lightning strike went off a few miles away and flash blinded the two pilots. The pelican wavered in the wind but she picked up and flew straight.

Buildings came into view. The broken vista of what once was New York City stood out. This was an older New York, not the futuristic and skyscraping Manhattan the humans knew. This one was struck down long, long before she hit her prime…

"Lot of the buildings are collapsed!" Green said. "Got a clear landing zone! I can drop you off at Broadway and West 42nd!" "That's close enough!" Tails said. "The Emerald is somewhere in the city!" "Alright! We're approaching the drop zone! Get ready to move out!" "Ma'am. We have trouble." Pathos groaned. Green looked on the radar and saw a gigantic spaceship, at least a few kilometers long holding position over the Bronx. "That the Doctor's ship?" "Probably. How many ships do you know look like…whale sharks?!"

Through the wind and the rain, the giant ship _did_ look like the aquatic behemoth. Powerful searchlights were combing the ruins of the city, and fighters streamed around the hull. "This is now a hotdrop. We're getting in and out! As soon as we touch down, get your asses off this dropship!" "Gotcha!"

Victor 101 coasted into a ruined intersection. The pilot extended the landing gear. The jets from the nacelles blasted away centuries old dust and loose debris. Strobe lights from the pelican's body cut through the dark storm. Distantly, thunder rumbled. "Let's go, go, go!" the Lieutenant said. They leapt out of the dropship. And into a puddle, weapons at the ready. "Get the hell out of here, Lieutenant!" Chris said. "We don't want you guys grounded." "_Copy that. Radio for pickup when you find the Emerald_."

Victor 101 lifted into the sky, a spotlight activated below her chin. The military transport rose above a brown apartment building and thrust into the sky. She vanished in a flash of lightning. "Big Apple, huh?" Hecks said. "Yeah. This is her." Chris noted. "I was actually born on Southtide, in the Albireo system. I'd never heard of New York so I thought I'd go on summer vacation. Took me a good month to get there but _man_."

Tails tapped Chris' shoulder. "Yeah?" Tails wore a cap similar to Chris' but his ears stuck out from the sides. "Chaos Emeralds usually emit Alpha wave radiation. It's nowhere near enough to kill us but it will help us track them." "Well?" the soldier asked. Sally checked a handheld computer. "There is some background radiation of 250 mSv here. I am detecting a higher source located…just a few miles North East from here."

It was interesting climbing through Old Megaopolis. It was like climbing through history. Humans have always had the tendency to build on top of what there already was, this was the reason mega-skyscrapers existed. Down in Lower New York, it looked something similar to this, although much more maintained. This was something different, when people on true street level could see much more of the sky.

It was against the laws of nature that these buildings hadn't crumbled yet. Ten thousand years without people and he would have thought that this planet would be reclaimed by nature. He was partially correct. Smaller cities had been completely demolished, but the larger ones still stood for some reason. Cars even remained.

The rain still beat down and the occasional fighter zoomed overhead. "Jesus, this is taking forever." Hecks complained. "Well, it was no picnic finding a place for the Emerald in the first place." Sally said with a small smile. "I mean, thousands of buildings and we had to choose one!" "So where did you hide it?" "There's a huge _forest_ up ahead. It seemed dense enough to hide a little emerald in." "Forest…?" Chris did a mental run-through of New York in his head. He didn't know about _forests_ but he did know a huge place of vegetation. "Central Park?" "Yeah, that's what it was. I think it was written on a plaque somewhere."

They came to a huge clearing. A bunch of trees were growing near their position. Grass also coated the street. Chris flashed his light near a ruined land car and a pair of rabbits skittered away. He then looked around and realized where they were. "This is Times Square, the heart of New York. Hell, it still is! My family didn't live too far from here!" Ruined screens indicated that this was the place where entertainment, economics, and plain old news were broadcasted here. He was about to say something else when they heard rotors. "Get to cover!" Chris said.

They ducked inside a transport truck surrounded by skeletons. It was damp and moist inside the truck, and moss covered the floor. Raindrops hit the roof with a regular _plink_. The rotors grew stronger until a tilt-rotor of some kind appeared around the next street corner. It hovered around two hundred feet in the air bathing the street with a searchlight. "Egg Hawk" Sally breathed. "What's it doing?" Sonic asked. "Probably searching for soldiers like us. But that means if he's in this part of the city, then he's starting to get warmer on that Emerald." They waited until the Egg Hawk continued down the canyon of buildings before they went. They started running now. Time was running short.

It was around forty minutes later that they came to a place Chris recognized. It was Columbus Circle. On _his_ Earth this was known as Columbus plaza, a giant circular "plateau" that housed a wide array of shops, restaurants, and not to mention a great view of Central Park. His home was one of the buildings around the plaza. "Lieutenant?"

He turned around. Sally was standing behind him. "Can I ask again, now?" Chris nodded. "Yeah." "How did your parents die?" thunder rolled overhead and the downpour increased. "Sir, we need to get moving!" Hecks protested. "I was 16 years old when they died. I was just going to university." It was painful to remember this memory. "They were coming back from a vacation. They were on Mars. They called me earlier that morning and said that they'd be landing at JFK. I drove there, waited, but nothing happened. I asked the attendant and she said they hadn't landed yet. Ten minutes later I noticed a smoke pillar rising from a building, just a few miles from where we are over there…" He pointed towards the far end of the Park. "…they took me in to tell me that everyone on that plane died…they all died…my parents died…"

Sally suddenly felt very sad she asked. She had decided to pry into the Lieutenant's personal life. Was it just the trick of the rain or did she see a tear roll down his face? _Oh no, what have you done_? Vennettilli was obviously not fond of that memory and she made him bring it up after constant badgering. She really _was_ a bastard. "Lieutenant…Chris…I'm sorry…"

She called him by his first name, by his _informal _name at that! That made the young man look up surprised. "Your Highness?" She averted her eyes. "We need to keep moving. Sorry I asked…" "Yeah." Vennettilli said pulling down the brim of his cap. "No point staying in the past."

Central Park. Or Central Forest! The entire place was overgrown. Trees the sizes of redwoods were sprouting out of the ground. It was like someone just surgically removed a forest and placed it in the middle of a city, perfectly aligning it. The rotors grew again… "Everybody, inside! Now!" The LT ordered.

They all ran inside. There was barely any rain. "That's much better!" Amy said. "I don't like rain." "Me neither." Sonic grumbled. "Aww…that's why we make such a cute couple, Sonnikun!" He backed up. "Now I am thankful I have a gun…" "Stop it! Anybody hear that?" Tails said. "Yeah, I do." Hecks said. "It sounds like…excavation equipment." "Not good…" Vennettilli added.

Robots were digging out a section of the park. Electronic drills cut into the earth making sparks fly. Several robots were standing guard with assault rifles in their bulky hands. The team hid behind a wall.

"Where did _they_ come from?" Sonic asked. "Maybe they already knew the Emerald was here. Typically when you put two Emeralds together they have a powerful reaction. I guess that's how he found it." Tails explained. "So those planes _were_ looking for _us_." Knuckles concluded. "Correct. I don't thing Robotnik wants us to be here." "I got a message for him!" Chris said pulling the charging lever on his assault rifle. "Rock and roll!" "No! Wait!" Hecks said, trying to warn him.

Chris burst from the cover he was in firing his gun. Bullets broke through robot armor. The bipedal automatons sighted on him. Chris then activated his secret weapon: Conditioned Awareness aka Bullet Time. This pumped more endorphins and adrenaline into the bloodstream making the body move faster and the reactions skyrocket. In truth, to the Lieutenant, the world slowed down to quarter speed. It wasn't a rare technique but it was difficult to master.

The rifle bang was muffled and shells were actually launched by the sweeping motion he made with his MA5. Each bullet landed in the faceplate of the robots. The others got the idea. "Alright! Everybody open fire!" Hecks said. They stood up and let them have it. Every gun flared and sent rounds into the mass of red and orange. "Don't hold up, circle around and confuse them!" Hecks ordered running across the gap to assist the Lieutenant.

"Are you crazy?!" Hecks said. After a second he said, "That was fucking _amazing_! I've never seen something like that before!" "Years of practice." He said priming a grenade. "Frag out!" He called tossing the grenade around a corner. The explosive landed dead center in the mass and detonated spraying the area with shrapnel. The excavation device shut down from damage. When Vennettilli cleared the corner, there were a lot of robots lying dead on the ground.

He kicked one in the face, noticing the round head and somewhat bloated body. "And so God created man in His own image…" he chuckled. "What's that, LT?" "Nothing, just some bible bullshit. I don't care, I'm an atheist." "Since when?" "Uh…" "Oh Christ, not again. Listen, that was what…six years ago? Get over it sir." Chris looked at Hecks and asked, "Is this the first time you've talked back to a senior officer?" He averted his eyes, smiled a nervous smile and said, "No sir, it's not." "Then what time is this, Private?" "Fifth time, sir." "Interesting…"

"You're gonna report me?" "What will that solve?" "Well sir, I was just…" "Forget it, OK? You're right, by the way…it's about time I've _started_ putting it behind me." He nodded. "We gonna pull this shit out of the way?" "What? Oh, the drill! Right. Knuckes, Sonic, come here!" The two Mobians ran up to Chris. "Sup, LT?" the hedgehog asked. "Give me a hand here." "What? No steroids in sight?" "Just give me a fucking hand." Knuckles have him a healthy punch on the shoulder. "Quit. Dicking. Around." He told Sonic pointing a finger at him.

Sonic adjusted his cap and put his fingers under the drill. Knuckles took the other side. "Alright, on three. Ready?" "Yeah!" Sonic said. "Three!" The men grunted and lifted the heavy drill in the air. "Where would you like this ma'am?" Sonic cracked. "Just toss it anywhere." Chris humorously added. They grunted and heaved the drill to the right. It crashed into the ground.

"Whew!" Knuckles said. "Look at that." Hecks knelt down. "Looks like a diamond drill." "Heavy duty stuff." Chris agreed. Sonic said, "Yeah, they're going to need it where we hid the thing."

They stared into the hole. It was about seven feet deep. "You literally hid it in a hole?" Sally knelt next to it. "Seismic scans showed that there were tunnels under this part of the park built before World War II." "I've never heard of them." Chris said. "Well, they were kept off public record unless people were actually going to _use _them, otherwise it would make them paranoid." "How much farther?" "Not much. Probably another five to seven feet." Chris nodded. "Knuckles, you're up." He tapped the Echidna's shoulder. Knuckles jumped down the hole and hit the rock. "Already feeling a bit unstable." He said. He brought his hand up and put his spiked glove on. He grunted as he thrust the glove into the rock. About a minute and a half later, he broke through. There was a dark hole. "You'd better stay up here! If you fall there's no way you're getting back up!"

Knuckles dropped into the room. It appeared to be a bomb shelter. Old American flags hung on nails, canned food sat spoiled for millennia and an old radio looked almost perfectly preserved. In the corner he found the box. A red light flashed on it. He quickly input the code and opened it. Inside on an insulated pad was the Chaos Emerald. "Hello sweetheart!" Knuckles said.

He jumped back to the wall and hung on, his gear pulling him down. He clawed his way back up using his gloves and his boots for support. He saw a hand and took it. The LT pulled him back up. "Did you get it?" he asked. "Safe and sound." Tails' ear twitched. "Hey…you guys hear rumbling?"

"_Lieutenant! This is Victor 101! You have that whale shark thing moving towards your position! ETA is three minutes!_" "Copy that Green, when can you be here?" "_With afterburners, One minute thirty seconds!_" "Copy that, we're located just outside Columbus Circle!" "_Got you! Get there and I can pick you up!_"

'Let's move, people!" Chris ordered. They ran the way they came well aware that the mothership was growing ever closer. When they exited they saw that a bright spotlight was waiting for them. That and the sound of rotors. "EGG HAWK!" the Lieutenant screamed as the gunship opened fire. Bullets pinged around the opening to the park. "Victor 101, are there any tricks you could pull to get us out of here?" "_Just one; doubt it'll work but it'll give us a few more minutes._"

Green pulled her bird into a sharp climb, going above the low lying clouds. She emerged in the sunlight, the blue sky bright. "Beautiful." She said flipping the pelican to almost a sheer dive. "Ready, Pathos?" "Let's do it, boss!" She opened throttle and accelerated back into the storm clouds. She primed five Anvil V missiles and aimed them further up Broadway. She thumbed the stub and sent them streaking towards their target. The wind buffeted her dropship. She could just make out the running lights of the giant ship. "Whoa. Look at the size of that monster." "Yeah, she's a mighty big fish, boss!" Detonations signaled that the Anvils had reached their marks.

"_They're pulling back! At least for now they are!_" "Confirmed, they're going to see what's up. Stand by for immediate pickup!" Green saw the flash of tracers in the air. That was them. She pulled the ship parallel to the ground and cut her engines momentarily to give them extra falling time. She activated them later to give her counterthrust. When the tires hit the pavement, they hit a little harder than she would have liked. "Get in, go!" She heard the LT scream. "Go, take off! We're on!" She began to pull up but the badnicks spotted her. "We're in trouble." She said. "Take Central Park West!" the LT ordered. "OK, it's your city, sir."

The Pelican thrust forward, not even lifting the landing gear. The Egg Hawk was in pursuit. "He's got a lock!" Pathos declared. A buzz filled the cockpit. "Take a left! West 66th! She reduced thrust and banked hard. The Pelican couldn't turn on a dime, more like a buck. She almost hit a brownstone but accelerated safely. "We can take this all the way to the waterfront." Chris said, but he looked behind and saw that the Egg Hawk was now accompanied by three fighters. Their angular designs looking strangely alien to the bird like Egg Hawk. "Sir! The buildings are thinning!"

He could see that. A building's scaffolding proved too narrow for a pelican to fit through. Unless… "Green, Sideways!" She nodded, understanding. "Yes sir! Hang on!" Vennettilli braced himself. The pelican flipped 90 degrees and sped right through the space easily. The Egg Hawk, not so much. Since the thing worked with rotor design, it pushed in whatever direction it was opposite to. So when the AI brain tried to copy the pelican's moves, the fans pushed the VTOL _into_ the scaffolding, causing a huge explosion that destroyed two of the three fighters.

"Take a right onto Amsterdam!" "_WHICH ONE'S AMSTERDAM?!_" "THIS ONE!" Green turned onto the street. The Pelican was just mere feet above the ruined pavement. "This is a straight street!" Sally said. "What do we do?!" "Those water towers. I have an idea."

The pelican climbed towards a twin pair of water towers. Given the torrential downpour, he could assume that there was some water in them. "Light them up!" The Lieutenant ordered. The pilot launched a small salvo of Anvil V missiles at the water towers. They exploded in a shower of metal and water. The pelican flew right through it and disappeared from view.

The drone fighter flew through the same shower. It flew on, unaware that it had lost the pelican. In fact, the dropship had hid on the opposite side of the building. When the robot had flown through, it had made itself a very large target. As soon as it was in view, Victor 101 locked onto the craft. It wasn't until the very last second before the missiles impacted that it attempted to veer and fly away. It vanished in a flash of light and the pieces of spinning debris were swallowed up by the storm. "Area secured." Pathos replied. We'd better leave before more of them show up.

The pelican angled upwards and sped into the sky. Green closed the back hatch as they climbed back into the atmosphere. "Good work guys." The LT said sitting next to the bulkhead. "Nice hit and run mission." "Smooth." Knuckles replied nodding his head. Tails said, "Well, it looks like we know Eggman is looking for the Emeralds and he's going to get a fleet to find them all."

"Let me see that thing for a second." Chris said. Knuckles dug into his pocket and found the jewel. He handed it to the Lieutenant. "Hard to believe that this thing was made by the Forerunner. It's not even marked with any glyphs. None that I can see." "Maybe they're hidden." The Princess suggested. "Maybe. We'll have to show this to Andsworth, maybe we could get cracking building a gate home." "Don't know how long that's going to take with one single Emerald." Tails said breathing deeply. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Hecks said. "Our priority is to get more Emeralds than Robotnik does. I mean, that's what they told us to do right?"

The outside was nothing but stars now with Mobius falling away. "They won't dare follow. Eggman knows he's outgunned." Sally said with a smirk. Chris stared at the jewel in his hand. He smiled knowing that the guys had done a good job. This was easy no doubt, but he had a funny feeling that things were about to become a whole lot more…interesting… 


	13. Chapter 13: Sands of Time

Chapter 13: The Sands of Time

June 16th, 3234, 0922 hours

Great Desert

Pelican Transport Victor 101

/Begin entry/

_One down, three to go. The mission in Old Megalopolis was smooth. Too smooth as a matter of fact. Sure we were chased by a squadron of drone fighters but hey, we got that Emerald. That giant ship gave me the creeps though. Not every day you see a gigantic whale shark-ish thing flying in the sky. (AHEM), Admiral was pleased with our performance and efficiency. I was almost surprised that we were able to do it so quickly. Mission time was logged just over two hours. Pretty amazing. I was also kind of disappointed that we didn't get to see the rest of the city. Maybe when this all blows over I can get back and see more for myself. _

/End Entry/

Lieutenant Vennettilli sat down in the briefing room chair. His leg had healed fully thanks to the biofoam injectors in his splint. It was just he, Hecks and the Admiral now. "Congratulations gentlemen." Andsworth said nodding his head. "That was a quick decisive strike. You managed to retrieve that Emerald in record time." "Sir, if it helps, the Freedom Fighters already knew where they had hid the Emerald. If it weren't for that, we would be wandering around for much longer than we actually did. Robotnik might have also found the jewel before we did then.

"Point well put. It seems that you caught him in the nick of time." "Yeah he was already drilling into the bunker where it was." "Bunker? I don't remember reading that in your report." "Oh, sorry. I guess I forgot to put it down." Chris said. "There was an underground bunker of some sort constructed in the 1940s." "That puts it around WWII era, correct?" "Yes sir. It seems that this was a bomb shelter in case the Axis forces ever attacked the United States. Fortunately they were never used so their existence has been denied." "Why?" Hecks asked. "Think, Private: How much money does it take to build a bunker underground without anybody else finding out?" "A lot?" "Well put."

"Gentlemen," Andsworth said. "If I can have your attention again, please." The two men looked to Andsworth. "Yes sir?" They both asked. "That Emerald has had some interesting properties. It emits Alpha wave radiation and it seems to interfere with dark neutrino patterns. If exposed to cosmic radioactive waves, it could function as a particle collider and open black holes." Vennettilli asked, "So what does that mean?" "Glad you asked." Andsworth said with a smile. "Computer, zoom in on Luna."

The camera zoomed in on the broken moon. It zoomed until the surface was easily distinguishable. Just over it floated a half completed hoop. It had several arms stretching out into space and tiny UNSC building ships zipped from place to place. "Is that what I think it is?" Hecks asked. "Indeed. That is an exact copy of the Mobius warpgate that is still orbiting the moon. "How did you make it?" Hecks asked. "When the anthros came here, Mobius had all his files with him. He took them all along and he planned to build a second gate when they reached their destination. That didn't happen since they got stuck here." "How are they going to power the gate?" the Lieutenant asked. "And for that matter where are we going to go? We can't do _anything_ since the other gate is right there _in another universe_." "That's what the Emerald is for, Lieutenant. You follow?" "Trying to, sir."

"When we crossed the borders of universal space in the first place, we used a catalyst, something that pushed us across in the first place. Namely…" "The Chaos Emerald." Chris finished. He remembered the talk he had with Miles. "Correct. That little jewel had the power to send us here; we have a chance to make it again. The theory is that if we have one, it will be enough to make the universal crossing, however it will be very, _very_ unstable. We might not make it back a second time around, or we may be deposited in another universe that isn't our own. Plan is we gather more emeralds and make it much more stable, like a chemistry equation, even out the covalent electrons to make it stable."

"Christ I hated chemistry." Chris breathed. "Think of it this way, the more Emeralds we pump into the machine, the smoother the jump will be." "Fair enough." Chris said nodding. "Good man. Now, the mission in Old Megaopolis was more of a gimmie assignment. I bet you barely broke a sweat getting that thing back. Take a look at this."

The camera swirled around Mobius and locked onto the area where the Sahara once was. The desert now spanned nearly half the continent. A single nexus of lights lay at the Cape Town section, the Land of a Million Lights which was what Chris suspected was a city or a cave full of reflective crystals or something. Two Emeralds were located at both sides of the continent. One right next to the Nile River and the other near Mombassa. "These two emeralds were placed here by the Royal Military. The Freedom Fighters have never set foot in Africa, except for a local detachment located near Kayro, a settlement along the river. "Like Cairo?" Hecks asked. "Yeah, like Cairo." Andsworth said giving Hecks a look.

"They have agreed to help on this assignment. They are the second commissioned squad designated Sigma. The leading marine is Captain Diego Chavez. A picture of Chavez appeared. A man aged forty five with a kind smile and dark brown eyes appeared on-screen. "After your performance in Megaopolis, the Council agreed to sponsor the second squad. Chavez and his boys have only been in Kayro for a day now. The Freedom Fighter liaison, a young jackal named Allah al-Mosheim is working along with him. Your job it to go and assist Chavez in finding the Emerald."

"Sir, I thought this was a one squad show." Chris said. "Correct. Your orders were slightly modified with the inclusion of Sigma Squad. All mixed species squads are now tasked with the same assignment. Gather your men, you are to deploy in-"

Suddenly, a beeping caught their attention. They all looked to the world map. The dot located Mombassa vanished. "That's not good." Vennettilli muttered. "_Sir, urgent call from His Highness!_ " Velo said from the bridge. "Let me hear it!" The screen cleared and Max was looking straight at him. "_Gerome, the situation has gotten out of control! I've just received a call from Captain Chavez! He says that he and his team are trapped in Giza, he requests urgent aid_." "Why couldn't Chavez call us directly?" Andsworth asked. "_He said that his Ground to Orbit communications pack was damaged in a firefight with Robotnik's forces! They have held a position, but we don't know how much ammunition they have! Help them, Gerome!_" "Relax your highness. We have Omega Squad en route!" "_Good. We're losing time. Out_." The screen deactivated.

"You have your orders, Lieutenant. You need to aid Chavez before he is killed by the robots. Kintobor could be en route to Giza as we speak. Dismissed, and by God, MOVE!" Chris and Hecks stood up. "Yes sir!" he said. Turning on their heels, they ran out of the room. Andsworth took a seat and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He looked out at the orb of Mobius and sighed sadly.

Victor 101 was ready to fly. She was already fired up when the Marines arrived in full desert camouflage. Lieutenant Green sat up in her seat and ran through a final check. Pathos was sitting opposite to her testing the chin gun on the dropship. There were footfalls on the deck behind her. When she heard Chris say "Gun it!" she closed the back hatch and accelerated.

The Pelican flew out of the bay and arced back towards Mobius. She got a surprise: Two F-29 Hellcats had arced out of similar bays and aligned themselves on Victor's three and nine o'clock. "An escort?" Pathos asked looking at the fighter jets. "_Affirmative. You're dropping into a hotspot, Victor. We have been tasked with your escort. Line abreast on your reentry, copy_?" "I copy…Skullboy two two." She said identifying the pilot's callsign. "_Get you, Victor. Brace. We're hitting the atmosphere_."

The aircraft hit the air surrounding Mobius. After a dozen seconds, they emerged in the cloud layer. "_Skullboy two two this is Rocky five three._" The wingman said. "_Bogies detected angels ninety._" "_Copy, Rocky five one, hold your course._"

They continued below the cloud layer. A vast desert expanded around them. Out in the distance, they could see the winding Nile, cutting through the sand as it had for many thousands of years. "Uh…Skullboy two two, Victor here." Green reported. "I have no joy. Repeat, no bogies detected." "_Could have sworn…What the hell is that?!_" From the air, a small squadron of fighters materialized. "_Bandits sighted!_" Rocky called out breaking left. "_Fox two, fox two!_" Skullboy called shooting two missiles into the mess. The ordinance impacted on the lead fighter, blowing it apart. Debris rained to the earth as others flew through the cloud of smoke. "_I have Cyclops all over the damn place!_" Rocky shouted amidst the fire. "_We've merged!_" "_We got ourselves a dog pile, Rocky!_" The other pilot said. With a "Yee-haw!" he flipped his Hellcat into the fray. His machine gun crackled and he sent many rounds into the drone fighters. Many died and fell from damage.

Skullboy released countermeasures which distracted some missiles from hitting him. He used the opportunity to open fire and destroy many other attacking craft. "_Keep going!_" Skullboy said. Green opened throttle and sped towards Giza.

The city was alive with gunfire. What was left of the population had drawn arms and fought back. In the distance, the great pyramids stood out against the afternoon sun. As soon as Victor 101 entered the airspace, more of Eggman's fighters changed course to engage. The lock warning had lit up and Green said to her passengers, "Change of plans! You're getting out here!"

Lieutenant Vennettilli stood up. "Alright guys. Grab a chute! We're HALO jumping!" The others looked at each other. "Come on! Move! Chavez and his team don't have much time! Grab a fucking pack and let's go! _MOVE_!"

Everyone stood up at once. Chris grabbed a pair of goggles and placed them over his eyes. He also put on his Fidel cap. Everyone else had UNSC helmets and combat armor, all tinted to a desert orange. The Mobains and humans pulled the pack over their shoulders. "Remember, watch the altimeter! When it flashes green, pull the cord!" Chris said. "We've never trained with chutes before!" Sally pointed out. "Well you're going to learn!" The back hatch dropped open, desert beckoned. "Get a running start! On my go!" He tapped the princess' shoulder. "Go!"

Sally ran forward. She gave a slight squeal and leapt headfirst out of the craft. She fell out of sight and Chris brought Sonic up next. "You're next, Hedgy! GO!" Sonic cracked his neck and ran full force. He made what Chris assumed to be a cannonball. The Lieutenant groaned. He moved through the list until he and Hecks were the only ones left. "Let's go flying." He said casually and they both leapt from the dropship.

Victor 101 roared away and soon all he heard was the rushing of wind in his ears. He adjusted his position to spread-eagle. The city of Giza was below them. He saw rectangular parachutes open blow and he concluded that his men activated the parachutes on their own. When his own altimeter glowed green, he pulled the red ripcord and felt himself get dragged upward. "Perfect." Chris said.

Sally's boots touched the ground. She brought her MA5 up to bear, placing her cheek against the metal. She coughed as she inhaled desert dust. She tied a bandana around her neck and placed it over her mouth and nose. If it weren't for her tail, nobody would know she was an anthro. Sonic landed shortly thereafter and botched his landing. "I hate parachutes." "Yet you have no trouble jumping from high places." Sally said. "Nice bandana." She noticed that the bandana she wore was the lower half of a skull. It made her look…menacing…damn it looked good on her.

The others landed. Miles used his tails to slow his descent, Amy landed in a roll and Knuckles firmly landed his boots on the ground. The Lieutenant and the Private were still dropping. "Secure the location." Sally ordered. They nodded and looked into some houses. "Oh Jesus…" Amy said. Inside her house, a body of a Mobian was riddled with bullet holes. "Oh Jesus…Oh no…" Amy dropped her gun. Chris grabbed her as she was swaying. "Amy! Amy, are you OK?" He saw what she was looking at. "Jesus…alright it's OK." She started sniffling. _Oh God…_ She actually started crying right there. What could he do? The _only_ thing he could do! He hugged her, making sure that he patted her back. What he _didn't_ expect was that she hugged him back.

"Uh…can we hurry it up here?" Hecks asked. Amy looked at Chris, tried to look at his eyes but she couldn't see past the mirrored goggles. She was slightly frightened. She released herself and said, "My mistake, Lieutenant! I didn't mean to…do that!" "We can forget that happened, Private." Chris said business-like. "Marines, move out."

A squad of robots ambushed them. "Tinnies!" Hecks said firing his weapon. The lead robot fell under a hail of bullets. The rest were dispatched by the marines. "I'm calling Chavez!" He placed his hand to his ear. "Chavez? Come in Chavez?" there was static. "_Hello? Who's this? _Dio_, someone answer!_" "Chavez? This is Lieutenant Vennettilli. _Que pasa?_" "_This is some scary shit, man. We're pinned down in a courtyard! There are dead civilians all over the place! Al-Moshiem's engaged in combat with these…I think they're 'Mechs! We're running low on ammo, Lieutenant. Get your ass over here to assist!_" "Copy sir. Can you mark your location?" "_Hell no. They got our SAT packs. I can send a flare though!_"

A second later, a colored light shot above the buildings. It burned red against the blue sky. "Got him. Tails, hand me your weapon." "Sure, why?" Chris took the X38. He unclipped his battle rifle's scope and placed it on the stungun. "You're flying recon, kid. Fly up to those rooftops and scout ahead. We'll be down here." "But…but…but…" "What do I have to do? Hold your hand?" Tails looked at the floor, looking very small inside his UNSC armor. Chris sighed and said, "Hecks, you're in charge. I'll go with the kid."

Chris raised his battle rifle to his shoulder and scanned the courtyard. He found a metal set of stairs and climbed to the roof. "Thanks for coming along, Chris. You know, I thought you were going to-" "Listen; let's get one thing straight here." Chris tore off his goggles and he knelt down to Tails' level. He stared at the fox dead in the eye. "I. Don't. Like. Repeating. Myself."

There was just something about Vennettilli that made Tails shiver. The man was only nine years older than him and he was all the more menacing. The wear on his face suggested that he had seen many battles, some of which he wish he never fought. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry. I should have-" "No, you weren't wrong, as a matter of fact, you were right to question the order. I can't place an _infant_ in the line of fire." This time it was Tails' turn to look Chris in the eye. "I am NOT an infant. Pick a target." "Excuse me?" "Pick anything around here that looks shootable." "Where are you going with this, Prower?" "Just do it!" "Um…that bucket over there, 100 yards back."

There was an aluminum bucket lying on a stone wall 300 feet down the lane. "Hand me your bee arr. I was never issued one." "One shot, Miles. We have a job to do." Tails went prone and brought the gun to bear. He sighted and aimed at the bucket's base. Tails felt his heart beat steadily in his chest, thumping against the alloy of his armor. He exhaled and pulled the trigger. The battle rifle barked and sent one round spiraling into the bucket. The thing leapt off the ground and spun three times in the air. "Lucky shot." Chris said with an air of annoyance. Tails had made a shot that would be _impossible_ to any man without proper equipment. The weapon had _no scope_ and the shot was still made. Hot damn.

"How many infants can hit a bucket 300 feet away? I can shoot, and I can even tell you how the laws of physics affected the bucket the way it did." "Tails, I don't have time. Listen though…" he placed a hand on the fox's shoulder. "If I ever doubt you from now on, I apologize. I know you've been on far worse jobs than this and I can see that you're ready to take whatever's dished out. I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel like you could never do it." "Thanks…Chris…friends?" Tails extended a hand. Chris was puzzled. How many subordinates literally extended the hand of friendship in active duty? Not many. Chris wasn't a normal commander. He grasped the fox's hand and shook it warmly, noticing how furry and smooth it was. "Friends. Let's go, there are guys who need our help."

"_LT, this is Hecks. Just heard rifle fire. Everything OK?_" "Yeah, we're fine. Just making sure we understand each other here." "_Copy. We're approaching a bridge over the river. Recommend that you find a crossing yourself. See any enemies yet, sir_?" "Not a thing." "_Copy._" "Keep your eyes open, Hecks. I don't like this…" "_Wilco, LT. Hecks out._" The COM snapped off and suddenly they noticed that it was very quiet.

"Tails…do you hear anything?" the fox's ears twitched. "No, sir. I don't hear anything." Just then, he looked to his right and said, "GET DOWN!" Chris hit the dirt and barely saw a shimmer stream over his head with a very large blade floating near it. He drew his rifle and aimed it. The shimmer turned and aimed the blade at him. Chris fired six shots into the center of mass. The camouflage flickered and died. A robot with translucent "skin" collapsed backwards. It had a silver skeleton below its "skin" that looked remarkably well structured after a human's bones. "Looks like an assassin." Tails said looking at the robot. "Gotta call this in." he raised his hand to his ear and tapped the COM set. "Private, this is Lieutenant Vennettilli! Respond!" Static.

"Hecks?! Princess…SONIC?!" "Must be a jamming frequency." Tails said. "I think that's what this transmitter is for." He said tapping an antenna on the dead robot's backpack. "That must be how they get their victims. Disable radio traffic to avoid calling for help…active camouflage, and…vibrating blades to penetrate flesh and bone! I have never seen a model like this before." "It's genius!" Chris admitted. "This is an amazing piece of equipment! The perfect assassin. How many more are out there?"

At that, they both drew their guns and stood back to back. "There could be hundreds…" Tails responded. "Double time it across the river! Don't stop!"

The two men charged across the closest bridge they could find. Chris heard a _shnk_ he whipped around and shot a robot that had caught up with them. He pulled a grenade from his belt and primed it. He dropped the explosive on the ground and booked it. He counted to three in his head and heard the _bang_. What he didn't expect was a tiny pain in his shoulder. _Damn, must have caught some shrapnel_! There was a huge hole about ten feet wide behind them though. Nothing was going to follow them now. Some assassin bots were even floating down the River Nile, carried by the current when they were blasted off the bridge.

They reached the other side and caught their breath. Chris placed his hand on his heart. "I haven't run that fast in years." Tails smiled. "When you run with Sonic, you learn to run fast." "_—REPEAT, we are under attack from unknown hostiles! I think they're assassins_!" Chris knew the voice.

"Hecks! Respond!" "_LT?! You got them too huh? Heard a bang. Thought it might be your doing_." "You'd be right, Marine." "_Oo-rah, sir. We're closing in on the flare now. See anything we should be worrying about_?" "Nothing yet, Private. Stand by for…" There were thumps. "What was that?!" Tails asked. "I don't know. Sounds like a 'Mech!" The thumping grew louder until they saw what it was: A gigantic fifteen foot behemoth with fixed machine guns on its hands. "Mother of God." Chris said. He was practically dwarfed by the thing. At fifteen feet, it wasn't very high but the high caliber turrets were nonetheless scary. Luckily the ferrous abomination didn't notice them, lumbering down the street. "Heads up, boys and girls. Have something big coming your way." "_I hear it_. Shit!_ We're trapped!_" Then, another explosion sounded. This time, it was the giant Mech that exploded. Bits of red hot metal rained all over the city, some hissing when it fell into the Nile.

"Report! What the hell was that?!" "_Lieutenant, hold your horses, _amigo_. We found an enemy missile launcher. Anti Air we believe. Apparently though, they make great anti-walker launchers_." "Chavez?" "Si, _Lieutenant. You mind showing up now? We've already cleared up most of the enemies. No thanks to you guys_." "Captain, we were held up." "_Give me a good reason._" "Assassins. Well, we think they are though. They have active camouflage and radio-disrupting equipment." There was a two second silence over the channel. "_I've been wondering where my boys have been…_Mio Dios_._" "Hang tight. We're nearly there. How's Miss al-Mosheim?" "_Lieutenant? I am fine. We have had some contact in the past few hours but I feel that we'll be able to pull through. I am wounded but it is minor. Nothing the doctors wouldn't be able to fix._" "Good. Stay down, ma'am. We'll be there in a few minutes." "_I understand. Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant._" The channel closed.

The guys met later. "Did you see any assassins?" "Negative, sir." Hecks responded. "We've done scans every thirty seconds but they come up blank. We've even blown the bridge that we were crossing. They'll have to go all the way around for us now." "You said they had active camouflage?" Sally asked. "Yeah; a slight shimmer in the air." The princess paced. "I think I'm starting to notice a connection between the aerial ambush and the assassin drones that attacked you." "Speak then, Highness."

"Thank you, LT. It's possible that Robotnik developed active camouflage. True invisibility is impossible by normal standards, which explains the shimmer. Some light gets in so some light gets out." "I know how A.C. works. What's the point you're trying to make?" "I think…that Eggman's had this technology suppressed for some time. He probably had a real chance to use it against the UNSC since…well let's face it, you're the only competition around here." Chris shrugged. As far as he knew, they were the only competent military force here that could hold their ground. He must have used them in foot soldiers, aircraft…I think it's even possible that he used them in spacecraft too."

"Space stealth is impossible though!" Tails piped up. "It's impossible that he could use it without heat escaping." "Have you thought of sinks or ablative coating? That sometimes keeps the signatures in for a little while." Tails nodded. "That could work." "Enough bickering. Chavez and his team are in trouble. MOVE OUT and no side trips anymore!"

Captain Chavez crouched beneath a ruined wall. He blind fired his assault rifle at the enemy soldiers. Some brass casings bounced off his hat brim and fell to the sandy ground. "Where the hell are our reinforcements?" He asked. A marine took a bullet to the chest. He fell screaming to the ground. A Freedom Fighter rushed to his aid, trying to extract the round. Chavez stood and fired a three-round burst at an officer's faceplate. It crumpled like paper and blew its CPU to pieces. The Captain pulled a grenade from his belt and cooked it off for a full second before chucking it into the mess of robots. The grenade detonated spraying the robots with shrapnel.

"Vennettilli! Where the _FUCK_ are you?! They're coming back with another wave!" "_Hundred feet, sir. Hold tight_." "_Pandejo_." Chavez cursed under his breath. He pulled his M39 Beretta out of his holster and fired four rounds at a robot. Two found their marks, puncturing the machine's leg actuators. The robot screeched and fell to the ground where it was picked off by human gunfire. "That's the last of them!" a marine said surveying the damage. "Hell yes!" Chavez said with enthusiasm. "Lieutenant, you're too late. I guess we're taking the credit for this one, huh? Well, you can come with us to get the Emerald. Copy?"

Static.

"Lieutenant?" Chavez asked before seeing a shimmer in the air right before his eyes. The last thing Chavez heard was the rush of wind, and he saw a flash of blood erupt from his neck.

"No, no, FUCK NO!" Chris screamed as he saw the robot execute the commanding officer. Chavez' body crumpled and he bashed his head off the stone wall he was using for cover. If he wasn't dead then he was now. That meant that Chris was the Commanding Officer here once again. Damn it.

"Everyone, attack the shimmers! Don't hesitate, shoot!" weapons barked from every corner and shimmers fell, and they turned out to be the robotic assailants. In a few minutes, all the robots were dead. Chris looked at Chavez' body and straightened it out. His blank eyes had the expression of fear permanently etched in them. "You poor bastard." He couldn't warn him, Chavez wouldn't let him respond. Now he was dead. Chris logged the time of death and took the tags off his neck. "This doesn't slow us down. There are civilians that need our help. We also need to retrieve that Emerald. Copy?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The group responded. "Sonic, I want you to scout the immediate area. Knuckles, Princess, go with him." They nodded. "Tails, Amy, Hecks, on me. Allah al-Mosheim?" A jackal walked towards him. Her torso was bandaged and her raven dark hair was covered by a red bandana. She wore a UNSC vest and kneepads, as well as elbow pads on her arms. "Lieutenant? Glad you _finally_ decided to show up." "We were _ambushed_, Allah." "Right. I apologize. The past few hours have not been kind to us. We've lost two men…I just was not cut out for this. We joined together to help stop wars from happening, not fight them…" She banished her thought and said, "We may have a way to get the Emerald. Apparently about a year ago, Knothole Special Tactics and Response teams hid the Emerald inside the great pyramid of Khufu, a human pharaoh that ruled this land many thousands of years ago. "We have a ride?"

Allah smiled. "Actually, now that you mention it, we do!" She whistled and an engine rumbled to life. Around a corner, a tank was piloted by a couple Mobians. "Check this out!" one said in fluent English. "We found her crippled near the river's edge. We fished it out and put it in the garage. Plenty of cars to salvage engines from."

Chris pointed to the gun. "Does it have any rounds?" "Sadly, not a whole lot. We estimate there's only a half dozen in the magazine. The machine gun on the other hand…" He said cocking the massive weapon "…has plenty of lead left in her!" "_Lieutenant? This is Acorn. We found civilians_." "How many, Princess?" "_Thirteen, sir. The rest are all dead…_" "Tell them to stay put and regroup at this location. We're going to the pyramids to get that Emerald. If I know my history, it's likely to be trapped." "Trapped?" Tails asked. "Yeah, trapped. The ancient Egyptians always placed traps and pitfalls in their pyramids. If humanity were killed off here, who's to say that they aren't still waiting to be tripped?" "I fucking hate it when you say that." Hecks said nervously glancing to the pyramid.

The three Mobians returned from their Recon run. "OK, twenty-five civilians in all, most of them have guns, but some need medical attention." Sally reported. "We gave them a few extra clips." Knuckles said. "I hope that wasn't a bad thing." He added. "No, just want to make sure that those cartridges are compatible with their weapons. "We checked. Made sure we could spare the 7.62x51mm rounds. They had some assault rifles." The princess assured. "Alright. Mount up, guys!" The marine climbed onto the tank's body and tapped the metal armor. "Let's go! We're losing time!"

"I can't believe we have to ride on a tank." Sonic grumbled. "I'd rather walk!" he called out. "Suit yourself!" Chris said. The human marine found a nice niche. "Hecks, Sal, Amy, Miles, Knucks, find a seat. Hedgy there's gonna huff it!" The marines held on as the robot tank jolted forward. A puff of black smoke rose from the tailpipes. "This thing uses gasoline?" Vennettilli asked amazed. "Yeah, there are some electrical systems but the gas is used for some extra boost. You guys don't use gas anymore?" Sally asked. "We ran out in 2069. We've made _synthetic_ gasoline but nowadays we use cleaner hydrogen fuel cells. A bucketful of water can get you a long way!"

The tank drove like a wounded rhino at first. It was heavy, but it picked up speed after a few seconds. The speedometer then showed close to sixty miles an hour. The tank leapt over a sand dune and caught some air. "That was _niiicee_!" the driver said, a smaller jackal with large engineer's goggles over his eyes. A black ball cap was backwards on his head. "Where's Sonic?" Chris asked. Sally smiled. "He's coming."

Behind them it looked like a small dust devil was forming. The Lieutenant knew better though. He knew that this dust devil was actually Sonic, running so fast he kicked up a huge amount of sand into a tall column. His combat gear slowed him down but he came right up to the tank. "Told you I'd prefer walking!" He said, matching the tank's oscillation in the dunes. The Lieutenant pulled on the brim of his cap. "Show off." He said.

The group carved through the desert. Above them, several other human aircraft engaged the robot fighters, and even farther on the horizon, there was a dark dot growing. The Marines knew that in reality, it was Robotnik and his fleet. "Can you get this thing moving any faster?!" Chris asked the driver. "No! I'm pushing as hard as I can! I'll burn out the engines if I try any harder!"

They rolled to a halt outside the pyramid. Explosions dotted the blue sky. "Sir, I can't find the entrance!" the pilot said. "Make one!" Chris ordered. The jackal saluted. "Yes, sir! DING DONG!" The tank belched a 109mm round into the ancient building. Rock splintered and exploded, and a gust of rancid air escaped the pyramid. "Go, go, GO!" the Lieutenant said hopping off the tank and running into the breach. "Anybody who wants to stay; be my guest. You, pilot?" "Claude, sir." "Claude. Stay with the tank. If any fighters come by, peg them. Use the MG only. Don't resort to the cannon unless it's _really_ necessary!" "Gotcha, sir! Just be quick about it!" Chris nodded before running down the hall.

He turned on his flashlight. The walls were glazed with ancient hieroglyphics. Depictions of men and women going about daily life, happy with their hierarchal lives. It was incredible to see. He was just about to reach out and touch one when he heard, "Lieutenant…?" Chris yelped and jumped. He turned to see Sally, Sonic and Hecks standing behind him. "DON'T DO THAT!" He screamed. "You see this thing?" He shook his fist that gripped the assault rifle. "It goes 'bang bang'! It KILLS you! I thought you were a robot!" "Sorrrry!" Sonic said in a perfect drawn out fashion. "We're coming with you?" "Where's Tails?" Chris asked looking for the fox. "Too scared. Knuckles is looking after him and Amy is scared too."

"Where's Allah?" Sally shook her head. "She said it wasn't her mission." "Go figure." Chris simply said. "You know anything about pyramids, Princess?" "Just what I learned in history. There are three chambers inside this pyramid. One's the king's chamber, the second is the queen's chamber and the third was unfinished." "And guess which one holds the Emerald? Hecks said sarcastically. "We don't know for _sure_, Hecks. Split up. You and I will take the lower chamber. Sonic, Sally, take the King and Queen Chambers. Be advised, we may not be able to communicate because of the rock walls." They all nodded, showing that they understood the message."

The path was dark. They could barely see ten feet in front of them and their passages were sloping up and down. Sonic was at the head with his pistol raised, the rifle slung across his back. "This place freaks me out." He growled. "What I would do for a light…" "Just relax, and think on your feet." "Heh, easy for you to AARGH!"

The floor dropped away. Sonic teetered on the edge. "WHOA!" He said surprised. Sally lunged forward and grabbed a niche in his armor. "Hold on, big boy!" she said gritting her teeth. She changed her stance to better suit her position. "Hold on!" Sonic watched as a drop of sweat fell off him into the darkness. In the near dead silence he heard it hit something. Sally pulled him back and he leaned on the wall. "Thanks." He said, his chest heaving. "No problem." The princess said taking a quick glance over the edge. The flashlight on her assault rifle showed that there were many sharp rocks at the bottom of the shaft. Several skeletons were down there with the tips poking through where their ribs and skulls were.

"Grave robber traps." Sally concluded. "Must be pressure activated. These Egyptians really knew how to keep their goods safe!" Sonic nodded standing up. "We'll jump. Doesn't look far, maybe a few feet at the most." They agreed and took a running leap over. Thankfully they hit solid ground and continued a brisk pace into the burial chamber. "Look around. Check in the sarcophagus. Maybe the Emerald is inside." "Unlikely. The body was moved out long ago." "Maybe its still here."

The walk to the unfinished chamber was much less eventful. Hecks and Vennettilli wandered through the pyramid's dark passageways checking the road ahead and behind. Every now and then, they encountered bodies in which failed robbing attempts. Bodies were curled up which suggested that the would-be grave robbers died in solitude and loneliness. "Poor bastards. You know if it weren't for their lifestyle choice, I would feel sorry for them!" The Private said. "I wish I could have seen this at home!" Chris said in wonder looking at the hallways. "You've never been to the pyramids?" "No. I've seen the Alps, the Coliseum, the Acropolis, but not the pyramids." Hecks turned to his CO. "You know the Forerunners had pyramids?" "No I didn't."

"Yeah the Forerunners had a presence on the farthest out planet in our system called…what the hell was it…GD-20951-d." "Hell of a mouthful. Can you imagine the landing speech?" Hecks chuckled.

The room the emerged in plainly looked unfinished. Several blocks of limestone were lying all over the place and the earth was visible behind the walls. As always, there were hieroglyphics covering every square inch of open space and in the corners, small broken clay pots littered the floor. "Looks like a mess." Chris thought he saw a sparkle among the dirt. "Hey, hang on a second…" he knelt down. "Is it an emerald, sir?" "No, too small, but I don't think it's Egyptian." Hecks shrugged. "Could be Mobian." "Could be…but how many Mobians have Forerunner glyphs on their machines?"

The thing was roughly circular in shape. Chris dusted some sand off it to discover it was a COM relay of some sort. He could tell by the small antenna and signal relay hidden under the sand. "Well I'll be. Forerunner technology." Hecks said amazed. Vennettilli looked at the PFC. "You said the Forerunners had pyramids?" "Yeah. Why?" "I think we just found our inspiration. But if that's true why didn't we find any of _this_ stuff back home?" Hecks just smiled and said, "Whole 'nother universe, baby!"

"Did you find it?" Sally asked. "Hang on…I think I may have." Sonic responded. "All signs point to this coffin." "We checked it. It's empty." "Did you check below it? My Geiger Counter is starting to tick." A small clicking noise came from Sonic's wrist, which had a radiation detector. "Clever bastards. They hid it right in front of us! Here, give me a hand." Sally grabbed the sarcophagus and Sonic followed suit. "Lift!" He grunted. The heavy container didn't budge. "It's no use; it took seven Egyptians to lift the entire thing. It'll take about four to move the lid." Sally said sucking on her sore fingers. "We can try calling the guys." Sonic suggested leaning on the coffin. "Impossible. We're surrounded by limestone. There's no way—" "_Princess, Sonic, are you hearing us, over?_" "Copy. I'm…reading you?" Sally said answering. "How the hell?" "_Hey, it worked! HAHA! Oh, Highness, you aren't gonna believe this! We've found an ancient Forerunner COM set. It…uses something to transmit through walls and stone! Isn't that incredible?_" "Fine and dandy." Sally said shaking aside that fact.

She said, "We need assistance here. Can you report to the King's chamber to help us do some heavy lifting?" "_Yes, ma'am. We'll be there. Out._" The Princess took off her combat armor and placed it in a corner. "What are you doing that for?" "Need better flexibility. This thing is heavy and I need to lift with the legs. Spine won't hold up in that thing." "Your party, Sal." Sonic said taking off his helmet.

Chris came through the arch first with Hecks coming up behind him. "What have we got guys?" Vennettilli asked. "Heavy lid. Can we move this thing?" Sonic responded. "Maybe." The Captain said with a shrug. We'll need to try hard. Hecks, do we have any jacks of any sort?" The PFC said, "Let me check my bag." He set the duffel on the ground and rummaged through it. "AHA! Pneumatic vehicle jack! Just in case we needed a car for this mission." "Someone find a crack or an indent in the coffin." Chris ordered. Sonic said, "Got one, right here."

It was a fairly large gap between the stand and the sarcophagus itself. Hecks stuck the jack in there and activated it. Gas was pumped into the space forcing the heavy stone to angle up. "Are you sure you won't break that thing?" Sally asked with concern. "Please, princess. This thing has enough pressure to jack a battle tank. That's 66 _tons_. This'll be like the equivalent to lifting a five pound dumbbell."

The coffin was almost two feet from the stand. A rectangular hole was dug in the floor. Without warning, three red lasers came from the hole and a grinding noise was heard. "HIT THE DIRT!" Chris ordered. Everybody dropped before a hail of gunfire came from the hole. It impacted on the ceiling sending a rain of dust on them. The noise stopped and the chamber plunged into silence again. "What the _fuck_ was that?" Sally asked over the ringing in her ears. "Well," Chris began, "judging from the grinding noise, the high rate of fire, I'd estimate a Gatling gun of sorts."

They peered into the hole with guns raised. There were miniguns alright, and in the center, a metal box. A green light was in the center. "It's unlocked." Sally noted. "Maybe they thought they would never get this far." Chris opened it. Inside was an orange Emerald, glistening inside the insulated pad, glowing brightly. The Lieutenant grabbed the jewel. "Objective accomplished. Let's get out of here."

They started down the hall before something rumbled. Rocks came from the ceiling. "That doesn't sound good." Sonic said. "_Lieutenant! This is Allah al-Mosheim! Enemy fighters are right above our position and we are being bombarded by indirect fire! We don't have a clear sight of the enemy!_" "Call in Pelican Victor 101." Chris advised. "COM frequency E-Band, access code Charlie Tango One One Seven Three Zebra." "_Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Calling it in_."

A few seconds passed and the jackal reported. "_Fire has subsided. I think those were mortar teams. Victor 101 is en route to pick us up!_" "Got that. Stay put, shoot anything that doesn't look friendly! Vennettilli out!"

The sunlight came quickly. Eggman's cruiser was above the area and fighters filled the sky shooting at one another. A Mobian ship had arrived and fired at the gigantic whale shark ship. "_All UNSC personnel, this is Rear Admiral Johan van Wilder of the HMSS _Gibraltar_. We are covering your escape. Get out while we still have the airspace free for you. Van Wilder out_."

Pelican Victor 101 descended from the sky, kicking up dust. A couple bullets from the west hit her hull as she descended, signaling the need to get out. "_Everybody inside_!" Green said through the loudspeakers. "Copy! Move!" Chris shouted. "Everybody inside the dropship!" "The tank?" Claude asked. "Leave it! It's no use to us. Take us up!" He said to the pilot.

The ground rushed away and Victor blasted away from the pyramids. A couple robotic jets followed. The dropship's tail gunner unloaded several rounds on them. One absorbed enough lead to sink below their field of view while the second opened fire. From nowhere, two F-29s skidded into view and opened fire on the straggler. The drone blew up and the two fighters swerved to avoid the smoke cloud. "_Victor 101 glad to see you made it._" Skullboy said. "_Rocky confirm we are home free._" "_I confirm. No bandits in sight. We are out of the viper's nest._" Green's copilot turned around and looked at the Marines. "You guys are the luckiest sons of bitches I have ever met! I swear to Christ you have like, a guardian angel or some such shit!" "We're clearing the atmosphere…hull integrity normal. Confirm." "Uh…confirmed. Hull integrity in the green, life support nominal, heat shielding holding. I'd say a half-assed flight." "Skullboy, Rocky, please confirm statu_s_." "_We're A-OK. You kosher, Rocky?_" "_10-4._" "Alright, plotting course for L5 Lagrange. ETA, forty five minutes."

Allah al-Mosheim and her men flailed in mid-air. They had never been into space before and were surprised with lack of gravity. Claude yelped in surprise and shook some sand into the air. "Sorry!" he said trying to catch some. "We'll rinse the tub out later." Green said with some slight annoyance.

"Lieutenant, I'm sorry that Chavez is dead." "Sorry we couldn't save him." Chris said with a sorry voice. "We were just held up, but it cost him his life." "My people believe that he will go to a beautiful land." Chris sat back up and sighed sadly. "I wish I could believe that, Allah. I sincerely do." The look on her face was a look of wonder, possibly envy. "How do you keep going? How do you bare it, then?" Chris took a long time considering that one. In the end, he simply said, "I don't know, Allah, I just don't know." 


	14. Chapter 14: Round Trip

Chapter 14: Round Trip

June 18th 3234, 1042 hours

UNSC _Indomitable_

Geosynchronized orbit over Knothole

The admiral sat in his quarters looking at the two jewels that sat on his desk. Actually, sitting seemed an inappropriate way of describing it. These things _floated_ above his desk. The two emeralds, one orange, one green respectively, were standing on their tips and rotating slowly. They had begun to pulse. Miles Prower speculated that the reason was that since the jewels shared a common "ancestor emerald", they would react in such a way when sibling encountered sibling.

He tried to knock one over just because he felt like it. The Emerald snapped back but returned to its teetering position. "God damn it." He said leaning back. The moon had come close to the _Indomitable_ within the last few hours. The satellite's debris field was pretty close to the ship, about fifty thousand kilometers distant. The nearly finished warpgate shone in the sun of this solar system. Andsworth had to sigh with joy as he hefted the two stones in his hand. _We're going home…just a little while longer_.

On the surface, Lt. Vennettilli walked alone in the castle courtyard. A trio of birds flew in the air perching on an old oak tree. Chris tipped his cap upward. This oak looked hundreds of years old. He felt at peace here, calm, and despite all that had happened lately, quite happy. He breathed in the clean air. Earth would never be this pure, not with everything people had done in the past. He felt as if he stepped back in time, despite the fact that this planet was thousands of years in the future.

The Marine walked a little further down the path, passing two Navy techs that saluted as they passed. Chris nodded and returned the gesture. "Morning sir." The female on the right said. "Yeah. Good morning." The Lieutenant said back. "You have to check out the statue back there! It's amazing." Chris nodded. People had been talking about this statue for a few days now. He wanted to see what it was about.

Chris walked down the path. He was glad that he was wearing his short-sleeves today. Forecasts on the ship had shown that this region would be bathed in nice, 84-degree weather. Birds sang even more here. Now he saw the statue. A man stood around fifteen feet high carved out of marble. He was human which was surprising, and he wore the white lab coat of a scientist. Chris assumed that this was Doctor Matthew Gregory Mobius, the young astrophysicists that found this place by accident. He was clean-shaven in the statue whereas in the pictures a nice black goatee was apparent. Mobius' eyes stared into space with a look of determination etched onto his face. Chris read the plaque.

**DOCTOR MATHEW GREGORY MOBIUS (PhD, QeD, MD)**

**2137-2203**

**BORN: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS**

A SYMBOL OF HOPE FOR OUR SPECIES, DR. MOBIUS IS THE REASON WE EXIST AT ALL. ALL WHO READ THIS KNOW THAT THIS WAS A GREAT MAN WHO DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO ENSURING THE SURVIVAL OF BOTH OUR RACES, AND DIED WITH THAT DREAM STILL IN HIS HEART.

Chris read that over twice. Mobius had an aptitude in Quantum Electrodynamics and Theoretical Physics. He had to be a genius to even _build_ the gate and get it to open. "Jesus Christ." Chris breathed. "Yeah no kidding" he wheeled around.

At first there was nothing. He placed his hand on his Desert Eagle in his leather hip holster. "Take the hand off the gun, human. I just want to talk." Sally dropped down from the treetops. Leaves showered around her. "Were you spying on me?" "No, I was just working out. I saw you approach and I thought I could speak to you." "Yeah. Sure. I mean, I wasn't doing much, just looking at…Matt here…" "Yeah he was a great guy. We have videodisks of him when he started the first settlement here, just under a million people. Now look, we have a population of over six billion!" "What happened to the humans?"

"Disease I think. Maybe radiation that was the remnant of the ancient attack. That killed the colonists possibly. We survived according to our quote, "genetic modifications". She curled her fingers for emphasis. "So, why did you want to see me? I'm on my downtime." "Just a question. That gate's nearly complete upstairs you know." "Yeah, I just heard. We should be done within twenty hours." "Do you think…when we connect…what will happen? What will happen when they see us?" "Hell, I don't know. Damn it I'm a soldier, not a psychiatrist!" "Best guess?" "Best guess…they'll probably freak out and maybe, _maybe_, they'll shoot you." "I see." The princess said. "I thought you've already discovered aliens and got the whole…'shooting' thing out of the way." "Yeah, but we haven't found anything like you guys." Chris admitted. They'd think like…the Russians invented you or something."

"So we have to remain hidden?" "Unfortunately yes. At least until we get the word out." "Christ, Chris. I can't wait that long." "Bear with me, Sal."

"_OK that's the last one._" Engineer Ben Jacobson said as he welded a panel in place. Sparks tumbled in space, fading into the night. "_The donut has been finished_." He announced. "_Copy that Jacobson, return to command shuttle and stay clear of the ionization field._" "_Copy that, falling back to safe distance._" The engineers working on the hoop walked back to their shuttle, which detached from the main superstructure. The military ship tumbled in space for a while and then fired its main engines to clear the area. "_Alright, let's light this puppy_." A senior officer on the _Indomitable_ said. "_Activating mass colliders and Neutrino injection system. Stand by_."

Arcs of lightning fanned out around the ring as particles were excited by the amount of energy that was being pumped in. "_Injecting Chaos Emerald one…now_." In a power station in the structure, the first emerald was slotted into its port. "_Showing all green. Emerald One has been successfully injected._" The portal turned white. "_Holy cow! Look at that!_" A radio operator commented. "_It's beautiful, boys!_" the CO noted. "_Injecting Emerald Two…now_." The second slotted in. The portal began to shine. "_Gate has been activated. How the hell do we connect?_" "_Input the jump coordinates for Earth in out databases._" "_Copy…that will be a little ambiguous wouldn't it_? _I mean, we could be heading to any Earth in Existence_." "_Uh…Copy that. Make sure that the coordinates are applied up to the sixth dimension._" "_Aye-aye._"

The process seemed to be going well up until half an hour later. "_Heads up, got a contact coming from the planet…uh scratch that I'm reading 10 contacts._" The COM officer responded, "_They're not answering our hails_." "_We've got bandits, gentlemen!_ _Charge up cannons and give out TAC reports to Andsworth_!" "_Holy shit! They just appeared from thin air_." A pilot said shakily. "_That's the cloaking device. Engage targets!_"

Explosions dotted the night as the humans opened fire on the unknown ships. They just kept charging. "_They're not slowing down!_" "_Shit…I think they're speeding up!_"

"Lieutenant Jaffa, can you confirm contacts are Robotnik's cruisers?" Jerah took a quick scan of the region. "Confirmed, those are the Doctor's craft." "Sir, he's hailing us." Velo responded looking at the computer. "Display message." "Coming online." The screen activated and Doctor Robotnik appeared sitting in a command chair surrounded by robotic servants. "Admiral! You're a doll! I would have taken a message but I think it would have been better if we met face to face."

"Don't play cute, fatso. I know what you're up to!" "Oh?" "You're planning to hijack our gate! Take it for yourself!" "My dear man! I am not trying to hijack your gate. I'm only passing through! You don't mind do you?" "Hell yes I mind!" He turned to his TAC officer. "Arm all of our nukes, target the largest vessel." "Don't even bother, Admiral." Robotnik said with a smile. "_Sir, the ships have breached the perimeter! They're firing on us! We need to close the gate! Enact the override! ARGH!_" Silence followed the channel.

"Report!" White noise filtered through the speakers. "DAMNIT!" Andsworth cursed. "Ships are 150 kilometers from aperture and closing!" "_You lose, Admiral_." "All fighters: Follow those ships!" "_Aye-Aye. Moving squadron_."

Almost seventy UNSC fightercraft blasted out of their hangars and went to peruse the ships. They curved in space, taking potshots at the vessel that was bringing up the rear. "Send a message to Max. Tell him we're chasing that bastard through our gate. We're moving to intercept." Jaffa noted, "Sir, at our current speed we will not be able to overtake the group in time." "Thank you, Mr. Jaffa. Override engine safety limit and push us to 150 bearing zero-four two by two-five-one." "Engines answering 150 sir."

The deckplates lurched and the hull groaned as the ancient ship accelerated. The autocannons on her hull attempted to shoot at the robotic ships but the hulks were way too fast to follow. "Keep pushing forward!" Andsworth exclaimed. He realized however that there was no conceivable way to come up to Robotnik's speed. He was forced to watch as the ships crossed the border of the warpgate and disappear. "Ship-wide COM, now." He ordered. Velo tapped a few commands on his keyboard. "COM is open, sir."

Andsworth cleared his throat. "Attention all crew members, this is your admiral speaking. As of 1100 hours our perimeter has been breached. We are currently en route to the warpgate aperture. In all honesty, I don't know what's going to happen when we cross that barrier, but I'm not going to be sitting pretty here while he's off going to destroy Earth, whatever Earth it may be. This is a general warning to all decks to prepare for turbulence, we're gonna get a lot of it. Andsworth out."

The _Indomitable_ coasted on full engines, thrusters blasting her to one side creating a "drift" the mirrored that of land cars. As soon as they were perpendicular to the loop, Jaffa countered with starboard thrusters and went all ahead full." The white light was almost blinding to look at. "Brace yourselves people, this is it!"

The prow of the supercarrier crossed the energy field and slipped through. At first, the flash blinded Gerome. He then felt a tugging sensation, as if a carpet was pulled from underneath him. He slammed into his chair but righted himself. "Report!" He said closing the blast doors on the viewport. Several red gashes appeared in mid air." "Engines on full power. Radiation growing exponentially." "Stress test?" Gerome asked, "Results come up green! No engine damage." The admiral smiled. "Excellent."

Luna, the only natural satellite of Earth was her companion for much of the blue planet's 4.6 billion years. The moon was home to over one billion people, most residing in the capital city of Armstrong, that was nestled in the Sea of Tranquility named after the first man to touch the lunar soil.

Orbiting above Luna was the gigantic warpgate. It was five miles in diameter at its widest point and was perfectly circular. It was abandoned ever since the 23rd Century and was left to drift until it was projected to crash in the Shoemaker region in 5017. However, today was a very different day for this piece of ancient equipment. Blue lightning skimmed along the outer ring sending it crackling into outer space. People complained that it was turning white and then, ten ships exploded out of the hole.

As soon as the ships breached the gate, it tripped a cordon that was placed around it so people couldn't steal anything from the gate or vandalize it. What the local authorities expected were hooligans who tagged the gate or stole parts. Not a full sized battle group! Before anybody could react, they sped towards Earth, leaving the vortex to spin behind them.

"_Attention, all personnel. Unidentified hostile forces have been detected outside of the lunar perimeter. The ships are not responding to our hailing frequencies. Time to fly gentlemen_."

The UNSC _Bainesbridge_ was an aircraft carrier the size of three football fields. Fighter jets lined her flight deck like bugs. With the red alert issued, the pilots all rushed to their marked aircraft and begin preflight checks.

Senior Airman Hank Douglas slipped his helmet over his head. He cracked his neck a couple times. He did this to relieve stress. It made him feel tough. The _Bainesbridge_ was located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was one of the many aircraft carriers ordered to launch her load. As a matter of fact, UNSC airbases all over Earth were sending ships into orbit thanks to this supposed alert.

Douglas' plane was taxied onto the runway. His was a cheaper model not enabled with VTOL flight. He was hooked onto the runway and when the marshal gave the signal, he was flung right off the bow of the ship.

The jet activated its engines and sped into the sky. Nearly ten miles away he could see the other carrier, the _Annabelle_ launch fighters as well. He knew that this was an attack force. "_Be advised gentlemen._" The squadron leader, Captain Frank Capone said. "_According to reports, the enemy ships are holding position just outside the stratosphere._" "_In what? The exosphere?_" The rookie pilot Nicky "Noob" Stigmann asked. "_Yeah, newbie. Reports say that she is armed and dangerous. Could be Covenant_." "I doubt it." Douglas responded angling his head towards the darkening sky. "The Covenant doesn't have the balls to attack us with anything less than fifteen ships." "_Hope you're right, Douglas._" Capone sighed.

The cloud cover broke and they sped to the edge of space. Fellow fighter squadrons broke the surface. On the left was VMFA-813, _The Bloody Fists_, and on the right, VFMA-117, _Death's Rangers_. "_Turn on your SCRAM jets, boys and girls_." Capone ordered. Douglas input the keys and slid his throttle into the red zone. The G-forces pushed him into his seat and made his vision fuzzy. He fought to stay awake as the sky turned pitch black.

The white flash subsided. There was only darkness. The giant ship tumbled from the gate and listed to port. "_Report_! How's my ship? Admiral Gerome Andsworth asked. "Still holding up, sir." Velo concluded looking at the report from Engineering. "Hull's a little stressed, no breaches, fusion reactors still within normal operating parameters." "Good. Find out where the hell we are, Jack." "I don't think we'll need to." "What?"

The entire bridge crew looked around. When the _Indomitable _managed to clear the dark side of the moon-which they had the fortune to exit behind, they saw a little blue planet with dazzling lights. "Earth?" "Confirmed! We're back!" Velo said with excitement.

The crew didn't applaud, but they stared with longing. They had only been away for a little less than a week but they found the sight of their own home quite humbling. "I…can't believe it." Lieutenant Maple Feedin said. "We did it."

"WHAT THE _FUCK_ IS THAT?!" Douglas exclaimed as his squadron sped into space. A giant ship, kilometers long and shaped much like a whale shark. "_It looks like it's a robot_." "_I confirm. Looks robotic too_." "BROADCOM transmission, going to HIGHCOM HQ." Douglas reported. He "saw" the waves on his scanner. "_How the hell did they get our codes?_" "Diverting message to squadron, and…we're in the loop guys."

"_Attention all who receive this message. I assume you are the UNSC_?" the voice of a man they did not recognize, maybe brass responded. "_Who are you? How did you get on this channel?_" "_That's for me to know and you to never find out!_" "_You came from the warpgate! It does work…!_" "_Damn right it works. My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik! I come from the planet Mobius and I was descended from your petty colonists who attempted to go there._" "_What do you want, doctor?_" the navy man asked. "_I want the Chaos Emeralds! Hand them over or there might be trouble!_" there was silence over the COM. "_Come again?_"

Eggman slapped his face. "Oy vey, you can't possibly tell me this is happening." He turned back to the COM station. "The Chaos Emeralds! Jewels, about yea big, have magical powers?" "_There's no such thing as magic!_ _You are to be taken into custody and your ship is to be impounded for invading the airspace and threatening a UNSC official_." From the bridge of his robot ship, he spotted several small ships closing in on him. "If that's the way you want to play, then let's do this!" He fired a beam at one of the frigates, severing the left nacelle. The crippled ship limped in space, the captain trying to turn her around. At this, every single ship opened fire.

MAC rounds impacted on the side of the ship, blasting the shields. "Doctor, shields are depleting. Estimated 81 percent remain." "Fire again. Target a larger ship." The lasers picked out a Marathon-Class ship and opened up. The laser cut through some hull plates but the ship didn't quit. The cruiser leaked atmosphere but pressed on, firing at him again. This time it was _his_ ship that was holed.

"Decompression on Deck 9 aft. Doctor perhaps we should retreat." "Ugh…perhaps that would be the best…" then a beeping caught his attention. He tapped the button and saw behind him, a rather large vessel was bearing straight towards him. "Oh no…"

The squadron of jets flew over the hull of the robotic cruiser. They took shots at the skin but they found an energy shield. "Sir whatever this thing has is too thick for us!" "_Keep pushing! We need to slow this thing down! Douglas! Take Noob and find a way to­-"_ Capone's fighter exploded, sending flaming debris bouncing along the hull. "Frank!" Douglas said, although it was completely pointless. Frank was dead and he couldn't bring him back. There was a job to do. "Newbie, follow me. We're gonna try to take this thing down." Douglas looked over his shoulder and saw a large ship approaching from the moon. "Dear God…she's back."

"Fire, Lieutenant." Andsworth ordered. "Aye-aye, firing all!" The _Indomitable_'s MAC guns erupted, sending two screaming slugs of depleted uranium into Robotnik's ship. The flagship shuddered from the blow as superheated plasma vented from the hole.

"Critical damage sustained, doctor! Orders?" Through gritted teeth, he said, "Enable the cloaking device, take us down to the planet." "Yes Doctor."

The three-kilometer ship shimmered in the night. It faded from existence. The other ships weren't so lucky. The battleship _Agincourt_ holed the lead right in the engine block. The blow blasted the swordfish-like ship into its sibling, causing them both to flash and combust. The other ships were easy prey for fighters, dead in the water and drifting aimlessly without their leader. The flagship on the other hand made a beeline for the Atlantic Ocean.

"Atmospheric protocols engaged. Stand by for reentry…" the robot helmsman said. The deck lurched as the ship hit the upper levels of the atmosphere. This baby could fly in atmosphere, no doubt. The problem was that he had cut his engines so he could slip past while the UNSC dealt with his less important ships-which were decoys in case he was found out (which he was)-. Clouds streaked by and the doctor had to marvel at things as he went past. A long silver ribbon stretched into the sky. "My word! A space elevator! I have never seen anything like that in my life!" "Indeed doctor. Scans are showing fifty-two similar structures all over the planet. They are mostly cargo elevators with spaceports located near the anchors." "Goodness! This is quite an interesting place!" the helmsman droned, "Entering lower cloud layer, estimated fifteen miles above the surface."

The flagship punched through the fluffy white. There was blue sky all around, and the sun shone magnificently. The Egg Carrier cut through the sky, slowing itself down with whatever jets, flaps or parachutes it could. "Brace for impact in three…two…one…" SPLASH!

The three-kilometer craft slammed into the ocean at nearly the speed of sound. It sank slightly but once the emergency ballasts filled, the entire thing rose to the surface. "Report." Robotnik ordered. "Smooth landing, Doctor." A technician reported. "Hull integrity is normal, except for the battle damage we obtained in orbit." "Seal the holes." Eggman commanded. "Yes, doctor." Julian took off his glasses, wiped them, checked for cracks then placed them back on his face. "Are we still cloaked?" "Affirmative, sir." He nodded. "Keep us under. Take nonessential systems and divert power to the cloaking field. Perhaps we can blend in here." The robot agreed. "Most brilliant, doctor." Eggman smiled and kicked back. He won this time. "I know, I do that."

"WHAT?!" Andsworth screamed, as he was lead through the hall of the UN building. He just received a report from the ship that they had lost track of Dr. Robotnik. "What do you mean he slipped away?" "_We were distracted by the other ships. TAC suggests that they were decoys to keep us busy while he went planetside. Guess it half worked._" "So he could be anywhere right now?" "_With that visual cloak, snowball's chance in hell that we'll spot him._" "Get some boats, search every single ocean." "_Aye-Aye, sir. Out_."

The MP led Gerome through a pair of stainless steel double doors into a small circular room. This was where UN and military delegates met to discuss matters of extreme importance. The sudden reappearance of the _Indomitable_ was very, _very_ extreme. A man with thinning gray hair sat in the center of the curved table wearing a military uniform. The four stars on his shoulders signified he was an admiral in the navy. "Gerome Andsworth is it?" "Yes sir." "What is your full name?" "Excuse me?" "Your full name, please." Gerome sighed. "Gerome Tyler Andsworth."

The man wrote this on a clipboard. "Where were you born?" The admiral decided not to push it. "Austin, Texas, Earth." "Your father's name?" "Tyler." "Your mother?" "She died though." "Please cooperate, Admiral." "Leanne." This process continued. Andsworth listened to questions referring to his rank. His friends, his ship, and finally, "What is your service number?" "81025-18314-JA" "Good." "Sir, what was _that _about?" "We needed to check to see if you were functioning properly. You were MIA for over a week. People assumed that you and your crew died out there." "Well, we were MIA."

A woman on the far left cleared her throat. "Care to explain, Gerome?" Andsworth knew the woman. Her name was Vice Admiral Karen Mauskowitz. Gerome and Karen knew each other for years in the academy. She was 'an old flame' of his. "We were in the Thyris system on June 7th, engaged in a battle with the Covenant Remnant. The _Indomitable_ took some fire and we tried to initiate a Cole jump."

A Cole jump was the name for a series of randomized vectors a ship took to elude a foe, something derived from the ancient Cole Protocol, handed down by Admiral Preston Cole at Harvest. That was a standard operating procedure with the Covenant Remnant.

"After we sounded the alert, we initiated the jump, only to find that we took an unexpected turn…" Andsworth went on for hours explaining what went on after the jump. He explained the _Indomitable_ arriving in the alternate universe, Mobius, Robotnik, and the deaths of over three hundred personnel at the base.

"Admiral," The man at the board said. "Might I just say how ridiculous your story seems?" "OK, first off, who the hell are you? I thought Admiral Fuller was head of the board." "Admiral Sam Fuller was reassigned to the heavy cruiser _Judgment Day_. I am Rear Admiral Scott Hood, his replacement on the Admiralty Board."

Secondly, your story sounds very hard to believe. Anthropomorphic animals? Such a thing has never been done. This…Eggman you describe, it sounds like a load of malarkey too." Mauskowitz interjected, "How can you say that? Didn't you see the battle that took place overhead? Those were _not_ normal ships!" "Karen, it was probably a Covenant attempt to attack Earth, and a bad attempt at that." He turned to look at Gerome.

"As for you, Admiral, I am ordering a psychological evaluation pending the result of a full investigation. We will speak more soon. You are dismissed." Hood picked up his papers, shuffled them on the desk and walked out of a side door. "Call me crazy huh?' Gerome said in a small voice cracking his knuckles. He let them unclench though. He knew better not to fight with a member of the Admiralty. He turned on his heel and walked out.

"They've been gone for a long time." Sally said looking out the window of a Pelican transport. The group was in orbit in Victor 101. Sally had convinced Green and Pathos to take off and ferry them through the gate itself. "This is fucking nuts." Pathos griped, tapping controls on the keyboard. "You know we'll never make it, right? Our Pelican's surface area is much too small and our hull integrity pressure won't hold up if there's a hull breach!" "You are a cynical son of a bitch, aren't ya Greg?" Green asked with a smirk. "Don't worry Highness. Vic's been in my hands for over five years. I ain't about to send her to the scrapyards yet." She opened throttle and propelled the Pelican towards the vortex. Some other ships were standing by near the gate, but they never went through.

"Those are Mobian ships." Sally pointed out. "Yeah, considering there's no other human vessels in this universe. Chris pointed out leaning on the crew bulkhead. "They have orders not to go. We on the other hand have no orders. We weren't told _not_ to go were we?" "Well…" Sally turned around and looked at him. The face he saw was comparable to the un_bearable_ puppy dog face. The princess' lip quivered pleadingly. To save himself the pain, he said, "Take us through Green." "You got it, LT." The pilot said and opened throttle

The D77H-TCI sped through space, making sure to align herself perfectly with the aperture. The white light was still glowing which meant that the portal was open. "Prepare for shock!" Green announced. The Pelican crossed the portal and immediately bucked in the turbulence. "Come on, steady, sweetheart!" the pilot pleaded, wrestling with the yoke, tugging to keep them stable and not flung into…whatever this place was. "Reaching terminal shock levels! Radiation level spiking!" Chris then heard something he wished he hadn't. _Tick, tick, tick_.

He looked on his arm; a portable data pad was in his wrist and forearm armor. This pad included a Geiger counter. He saw the needle wave towards the other end. "Lieutenant we need to drop out as soon as we can! We're absorbing gamma wave radiation!" Green's hands danced over her keypad. "OK, OK. Just stay calm, we're nearly there!" "Christ, you've killed us! How are we going to get out? Earth, Next Exit?" Pathos said throwing his hands up in anger. Tails started to swoon in his seat. "Hey guys…I don't feel so good…"

"Stay with us, little bro!" Sonic said trying to keep him conscious. "Can radiation do that?" He asked Hecks. "It can cause some sickness, but I've never seen anybody pass out from it before." Sally said, "It's not the radiation. Listen." A hissing noise was heard. It was coming from behind Tails. When they moved his head, they saw a small gash in the side of the Pelican. Air was leaking through the hole." "Whoa! Hull breach!" Hecks called.

"Green, I think we're in over our head." Vennettilli said in the cockpit. "No kidding. Maybe we should have thought this through. Suddenly the light disappeared. Black space surrounded them and a large moon appeared to the right. "Did we make it?" "Hard to tell." Pathos said. "Hang on, I'm doing a BROADCOM sweep." A few seconds passed while Greg preformed the scan. "OK, I'm picking up five hundred military vessels in a five hundred thousand kilometer bubble. Analysis shows that they are operating on the same frequency as us." "Then we made it." Chris said clapping Green's shoulder. "Good job flygirl." She smiled in appreciation.

"Are there any spare deckplates?" Sally asked. "No! Hang on, I'll check under the seats!" Hecks responded. He looked and found a small adhesive keypad. "Will this work?" The princess tested the sticky side. "Yeah, this'll hold." She stuck the pad on the rupture and the hiss stopped. "Poor little guy got light headed and passed out." Amy said. Sonic slapped the fox's cheeks to wake him up. "Hey, Tails! Miles! Wake up!" "Ugh…Sonic? What happened?" "Just a little rupture. You passed out for a few seconds." "Did you seal the hole…?" "Yeah, we're fine."

"Sir, I found the _Indomitable_." Pathos reported. "Good. Can we open a channel to the bridge?" "Uh…yeah, I can do that. Stand by." There was silence as the pelican skimmed by the supercarrier. "Got it online." "_Attention UNSC Pelican, registration Victor 101, this is First Officer Thomas Sheppard. What are you doing here? More importantly, how did you manage to cross the portal unharmed?_" "First Officer Sheppard, this is First Lieutenant Chris Vennettilli, 182nd Division, 5th Battalion." "_Lieutenant, I am surprised to see you on that craft. Any particular reason why you felt it necessary to cross over_?" "Sir, I was persuaded by her royal highness to come." "_The Queen? The Princess?_" "Princess. She's here right now." "_Right. Can you confirm that_?"

Sally marched up to the cockpit and cleared her throat. "First Officer Sheppard, this is Sally Alicia Acorn. I was the one who commissioned this flight." "_Your highness you realize there just was a battle here. Flying debris could be a navigational hazard to a craft your size._" "Yeah, well we're not going back either. This Pelican took some punishment coming one way. We've absorbed radiation and suffered a hull breach." "_Understood. I still can't have you out there prancing about._" "Sheppard, this is an order now. I want to know where the Admiral is." "_Excuse me? Why would you want to know that_?" "I trust this man as much as I trust my parents. If anybody could start our little introduction, it's him. I don't want to wait for politicians to come to _us_." The small crackling of radio waves filled the cockpit. "Sheppard?" "_Alright. He's in New York City, UN building. I'd better call ahead though to let him know, or else he's throwing me out the airlock_." "Appreciated Sheppard. Acorn out."

Victor 101 approached the blue marble. "Man, oh man it is good to be back." Pathos said looking at the planet. "Miss your home?" Sally asked. "What? Oh, this isn't my home. I was born on Draco IV. I love that place. Something about being a Draconian makes you feel…for lack of a better word, bad-ass!" "Wow…how many planets do you all live on?" Chris smiled. "Over a thousand. A couple in the Sagittarius Arm too."

The clouds whipped by. A large metal tube extended to the heavens. "WOW! What's that thing?" Tails asked looking out the porthole. "That's a Space Elevator, a marvel of human engineering. It extends to over two hundred miles above the surface." Hecks explained. Amy took one look and said, "Mother of God…it's like the building in the Bible." "Tower of Babel? Got nothing on this sweetheart! You like this, just wait till we break the lower cloud layer."

They did so and every single Mobian inhaled loud enough to hear. "Welcome to New York everyone." Chris said with a wide smile. The city was enormous, spanning from one end of Manhattan Island to Upstate and New Jersey. Every square inch of their view was covered in buildings stretching thousands of meters into the air. "Mother of God, I've never seen anything like it." Sonic said breathlessly. "Yeah, she's a beauty ain't she?" Green said smiling too. She was a native of Queens. Traffic criss-crossed the sky ranging from small flying cars to huge transport ships. "Where's the UN building?" Sally asked, taking it all in. "See that huge building in the center of the city?" Green asked.

Acorn saw it. It was tall, at least two kilometers high and was angled towards a point in the top. "Yeah?" "That's the center of the galaxy, Highness. That's where we're going!" Sally couldn't stop herself from saying. "That's fucking awesome!"

"_Victor 101 we heard you were coming in._" the control tower said, "_Pad 49 is open. Ease her in and try not to scratch the paint. You have a visitor waiting for you just to let you know._" "Thank you control tower. We'll set down right away. Victor 101 out."

The dropship angled her nacelles upward to counter the thrust, extending her tired to land on Pad 49. They thumped on the metal and squealed as they stopped the ship from moving. Three men were waiting for them. One was in official navy attire and the other two were MPs. "Hatch is open if you want to see him, Lieutenant." Green said taking off her helmet and smoothing her shoulder length brown hair. She had a nervous smile on her face. "He's gonna kill me." Chris said sadly making sure his cap was on straight. "You guys, follow me." Chris said pointing to the other crewmembers. Everyone stood to and followed the Lieutenant out.

"Lieutenant Vennettilli. Wonder what you're doing here?" Admiral Gerome Andsworth said. "Uh…just visiting sir." Andsworth heard the cycling of assault rifle bolts and looked to his sides. The MPs had their guns up and aimed them at the Mobians. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sonic said placing his hands up. "Put those things down!" He said angrily. "Sergeants! It's alright." "Sir, these are unknown aliens, they may be hostile!" "They are not _hostile_, Sergeant Griggs! I am ordering you two to put your weapons down!" The MPs still were sketchy but lowered their assault rifles. "Princess, I understand that you were the reason that this pelican is here and not back on Mobius where she belongs. "Admiral, I came here because I wanted to speed up the negotiation process. We wouldn't get anywhere quickly without proof. Not to undermine your confidence admiral, but they wouldn't have believed you." Andsworth's moustache twitched guiltily. "Um yes…brilliant hypothesis. Yes they wouldn't have believed me. I suspect though that there was another reason you came by though." "Yeah…I just wanted to see _THIS_!" She waved her hands around, indicating the buildings, the cars, the electronic billboards, everything. "We were all wrong! You've done something _magical_ to this planet. I even saw green on my way down here!"

Andsworth almost blushed. A compliment to the human race as a whole and he was the one to receive it! I was a huge impact for one man. "I'm glad you approve, Sally. Now to move things along, we must get you to meet with the board. You and the others here are the only solid proof we have of your own existence and you'll prove that I'm _not_ crazy!" "What? You're crazy?" Tails asked naïvely. Andsworth rolled his eyes. _Oy…_

"Now if we can…wait a moment…where's the hedgehog?" The MPs looked around. "What sir?" Griggs asked. "Where's Sonic? Goddamn it! He must have run off!" "What do you want us to do sir? Search the entire city?" Chris asked. Andsworth then controlled himself and looked over the metropolis. "No…he'll come back to us, one way or another…"


	15. Chapter 15: The Chase

Chapter 15: The Chase

June 19th, 3234, 0831 hours

New York City, Manhattan Island, Earth

/Begin Entry/

Well this is fan-_fucking_-tastic! Yeah, I've been in a peachy mood lately. Sure I had that quick jolt of euphoria as soon as we cleared that warpgate, but we could possibly have something that can be worse. Just _minutes_ after we touched down, our resident numbskull decided to have a quick jaunt through the city. Not a good idea. The police will be all over him in _minutes_ and I know how the NYPD operate.

I sure hope that hedgy can run…

/End Entry/

Sonic leapt off the side of the UN building, he literally leapt headfirst. New York was a spiral beneath him as he cut through the air. He angled his body so that he was nearly perpendicular to the structure and started _running_ down it! The wind rushed in his ears, he blinked every now and then to ensure he wasn't dreaming. He was running down a building three kilometers in length! The concept felt so amazing that he had to admire humans for their architectural skills. He then remembered that this was how his people learned to make buildings…there was a lot about humans he hadn't thought of…

He then shifted to an angling side of the building. A stretch of silver-black curved along the building, held up by arms. On the band, small specks of colors traveled up and down the length. "A highway? In the sky?" He decided that the opportunity was too juicy and jumped onto the roadway. He almost became the hood ornament of an Audi that screeched in front of him, the driver unbelieving of what he was seeing. Sonic then began to run away while the frightened person dialed on his phone, 9-1-1.

The hedgehog sped down the street, vaulting over some cars that may have gotten in the way. This road seemed to continue on forever, streaking through this giant city. That was exactly what he wanted though, the opportunity to run as far as he wanted. Someone honked behind him, which made him do a double take. Unfortunately, it also made him run into the trunk of a pickup truck. The vehicle lurched half an inch. Sonic picked himself up off the ground and noticed his nose was bleeding. "Hey buddy!" He called, "You mind moving that thing?"

The driver was so scared he didn't even respond, just drove off, with a huge dent on his rear fender. Sonic then heard sirens behind him. "Uh oh…" he said.

Sergeant Mickey Donavan was having a terrible week. He had had a fight with his girlfriend, his landlord was threatening to evict him, and on top of that, he hadn't had his coffee today. Donavan was driving a patrol car onto the busy highway where he received a hit and run call from HQ. According to the reports, a man driving a white Audi was hit by -this was where things got weird- a blue hedgehog. Donavan thought it was just another overseas or off-planet model. The complaint said that the hedgehog landed in front of the driver and he collided, then it sped off. It was his job to catch it. This was what he was reduced to, chasing speeding cars on the highway. Oh yeah, great. What an awesome way to live.

Donovan's partner, the young, ambitious and energetic officer Eddie McNorton. He on the on the other hand had a zest for this kind of stuff. Donovan strongly suspected that Eddie joined the NYPD because of the supposed high-speed action chases, thrilling gunfights, and valor. _Kid probably read one too many comic books_, Mickey told his captain when Eddie was assigned to him.

Donovan merged into the next lane, taking into account the heavy traffic. He suddenly saw something up ahead. It was quick, a flicker amongst the cars. Mickey at first assumed that it was a reflection of a flying car or perhaps even a bird that decided to sift through the highway. He then thought differently as soon as he saw it again. "Hey Eddie, did you see that?" "Yeah I did, boss." Mickey grabbed his radio and put out a call. "Attention dispatch this is unit 2020, I think I may have a Code 2 here." "_Copy that unit 2020, Code 2 acknowledged. Verify contact with suspect_." "Uh…we have somewhat visual contact." "_Copy that, get into position to identify_." "You got it. Donovan out."

The patrol car pulled ahead past a couple of cars. Donovan steered clear of it and managed to get a view of what he was chasing. "What the hell is that…?" He said in wonder. What he saw wasn't a vehicle. It wasn't even human! What he saw appeared to be a five-foot tall anthropomorphic hedgehog. Without knowing it, Mickey activated his sirens, a policeman's instincts. The noise blared and the hedgehog wheeled around. He noticed the patrol car and sped ahead, causing two cars to spin out. "_WHOA!_" Eddie said in excitement. "Jesus Christ!" He grabbed the radio and said, "Dispatch this is Unit 2020, suspect has just fled at high speed, estimated…two hundred and fifty miles an hour. We are Code 3 now, I repeat Code 3! Suspect is a blue hedgehog, repeat, blue hedgehog!" He waited a second and then heard, "_Uh, Unit 2020, what the fuck did you just say?_"

Sonic vaulted over a car. He heard the sirens behind him. He wasn't scared. Years of running from Robotnik's chumps had prepared him for this moment. "Bring it on, gentlemen!" He blasted ahead taking a left onto an on-ramp.

"Whoa, he just broke left!" McNorton said. "That's oncoming! What is he brain-dead?" "What _is _he, Sarge?" "I don't know, maybe the Russians made him." They were only able to get to the opposite ramp but by that time, the hedgehog already had a monster advantage. "We need backup. Suspect is heading towards Park Avenue." "_Copy that, Unit 2020, backup is en route._" "_What's the matter, Donovan? Can't catch a car?_" an officer cackled over the radio. "Shut the hell up. I'd like to see you try this one!" "_My pleasure, darling!_"

Park Avenue had two traffic sectors, one was a series of raised highways, and the second was the skyway where the flying vehicles were. Far below, the main street itself was still visible through the buildings despite the years that rolled by. A police roadblock had formed on the road with traffic diverted into another lane. Three police cruisers parked fender-to-fender hoping to stop whatever was heading their way. Also, officers with assault rifles were waiting in case whatever was inside this vehicle was going to put up a fight.

"Hey, Sarge, what the hell is a blue hedgehog?" An officer asked sighting his weapon down the road. "Dunno. Maybe some sort of foreign car. Maybe it's from the colonies." "Think this was all necessary? We have like, half the force here!" A police semi truck pulled into the lane and blocked the road. "From the chatter Dispatch gave us, our speeder's running the gauntlet. Two hit and runs, and driving in oncoming." "Holy shit! Run of the mill New York _fucking_ City wacko!" Sirens came from down the road. "OK, people, this is it, get ready to stop this guy!"

The officers leaned on their cars, guns raised. This freak was obviously a danger and needed to be put away. "This is 9-2; I have men in position on Park South." "_9-2 move your men now! This guy…he's not even human!_" "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" An officer asked. Then, they saw a blue blur on the horizon.

Sonic really put the foot down now. He had cops behind him, cops in front of him, and a whole lot of road to cover. When he saw that they had guns raised and a semi truck parked, he started to get nervous. _If I can get a jump just right, I'll go right over…If I hit it wrong…well, I hope I pass out before I hit the ground._" He sped up to a point where he even felt the friction burns through his specially made shoes. He spotted a squad car that was nearly pointed straight towards him; he jumped on, and let his momentum and the suspension bounce him over the block. He barely had time to notice the officers' surprised looks before hitting the ground and rolling. He laughed in triumph and sprinted down the road. "Too easy!"

The Sergeant didn't notice that his radio was buzzing. "…_9-2, 9-2, report in! Is suspect in custody, can I get a 20 on your status over_?" He fumbled and said, "Uh…that's a negative Dispatch, the suspect has evaded the block!" The woman on the other side said, "_WHAT?! That block covered more than four lanes! What did he do, go through it?!_" "Well, he didn't go under it, didn't go around it, didn't go through it! This _thing_ isn't human! He's not Covenant, or anything we've ever seen before! He looks like…a hedgehog on two legs!" "_How long until you can reestablish pursuit_?" "10 minutes maybe. Even now we have a disadvantage. Moving this truck will be the tough part." "_Ugh…fine. I'll call it in, Dispatch over out_."

The Dispatch official opened a channel to NYPD SWAT. Her assistant noticed her progress. "You OK?" "Biggest chase of the year. A hedgehog broke through a four lane block." "A _hedgehog_?" "Yeah, my reaction too…might as well call in the choppers." "Listen to yourself! You're calling in a helicopter to chase a HEDGEHOG?" "_This is 5-9! Suspect has broken through my block! _HE'S ON MY FUCKING CAR!" There was static, and then the radio crackled back on. "_This is 5-9. Cruiser disabled, he made me crash into the medium. All units to backup. We are still Code 3, repeat Code 3._" "_55-2, Just got him! _WHOA!_ Clocked him at…381 Miles per Hour…That can't be right, damn thing must be broken!_" The Dispatch officer then said with no trace of joking, "Call it in, _now_."

The sound of rotors in the air made Sonic nervous. The cruisers pulled off their chase after he ran for about another mile or so. Now it looked like New York's finest were sending in choppers after him. A combat helicopter appeared from behind a building. What scared him was that there were two missile pods under its stubby wings. It descended to his level, matching his speed. "_I don't know what the fuck you are, but stop running!_" Then Sonic did something he never thought he'd do. He flipped the pilot off and stuck out his tongue. The helicopter pilot's jaw dropped. "_Did you see what he just did to me?!_" he asked his copilot. "_You're DEAD!_" He dropped behind Sonic and spooled his Gatling gun.

Lead erupted from the gun, chopping away at Sonic's position. The pilot laughed maniacally as he shot at the running anthro. He armed a missile and sent it flying. Sonic looked over his shoulder just in time to see it and did the only thing he could do, and that was jump. The missile hit a few meters behind him, causing him to roll and hit the far wall. He heard his neck crack as he stood up. The chopper hovered in front of him. Sonic then ran farther, this time, hyperventilating. He suddenly got the bright idea to go down a street that was labeled 'CLOSED FOR REPAIRS'. Actually it was less of a thought and more of an instinct.

Sonic slammed through the wooden roadblocks and ran down the curving roadway. The helicopter was still fresh on his tail chewing chunks out of the road with its gun turret. Then he came to an all out dead end. The police chopper now hovered on his only remaining path, which was the way he came. "_Got you now you little rat!_" The pilot said mischievously. "_I'm only gonna ask one time: Get down on the ground or I swear to God I will reduce you to a pulp!_"

A brief war of thought raged in the hedgheog's head. On the one hand, he could avoid certain death by going quietly. On the other hand, there was always the ledge…

He looked down and felt a brief tinge of vertigo. Far below, the true street lay, with tiny dots of cars driving up and down the street. It was a very long way, but this could also be a very, _very_ long day. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and threw himself off the highway.

The chopper pilot couldn't believe what he was seeing. He followed the creature with his vision until he couldn't see him anymore. "_We got a jumper! Suspect has just jumped off the highway!_" He was just about to add to it when he saw that his suspect was running down another building. "I need a vacation." He grumbled and started to follow him. A glimpse of gunmetal grey caught his attention. Two Pelican dropships streaked by, searchlights activated, following the hedgehog. He saw on the back in white letters 'MARINES'.

"Oh boy, now this is getting interesting. Looks like our pal has the UNSC after him." The pilot said amused. "Should we go watch?" "Hell yes, this guy ruined my afternoon."

Sonic hit the ground, kneeling to absorb the impact. Nevertheless, he heard a cracking in his kneecaps. He looked around to see where he was. It looked like an old overpass. He was just about to head down the road when he heard the whining of an engine. Two engines to be precise.

Twin dropships fell from the sky, their nacelles giving them the thrust. The Pelicans' powerful search lights cut through the shadows looking for Sonic. _Ah damn it. Looks like my fun's over_, he thought to himself. He honestly considered running, but he knew that these things would catch him. The voice from the dropship wasn't too comforting either:

"_Attention Hedgehog, this is the Marines! We are ordering you to cease and desist your actions at once!_" "Alright, you got me!" He said with his palms raised in defense. The Pelicans hit the ground and marines streamed out of the ships. He wasn't expecting a whole lot until a large man tackled him and pinned him to the ground. "Stay _still_ you freak!" He growled searching for a pair of handcuffs. "Hey, hey, what gives?!" Sonic shot back with some bite. "Got the cuffs." Another Marine said, clicking them shut. "You gave us a bit of a chase. You're fucking finished, buddy." Sonic was led to the dropship, not struggling but not wanting to go along either. "Humans…fun wreckers."

Sally accompanied Admiral Andsworth as they walked down the hallway. He insisted that she wear a dress for this occasion. He read over a clipboard he picked up. "So…how is this going to work, Admiral?" "Tell you the truth, highness, I have no idea. This is a list of First Contact scenarios. Everything from the Covenant to the Garim is in here. "I'm afraid I am not familiar with these scenarios, sir." Gerome sighed. "Basically, every single race we encountered has A) Tried to kill us, B) Ignored us, or C) Regard us as insignificant."

"Honestly, I don't think you're insignificant. Look what you've done in such a short time! You broke the light barrier, proved Einstein's Theory of Relativity wrong!" "Technically we did not. We did not break the light speed barrier, we just bypassed it." "Whatever…point being is that for the first time, I think _we_ are the insignificant ones…" "That isn't for me to say, that's the UN's decision." They headed for a stainless steel door. "Just let me do the talking." "Yes, sir." They pushed open the door.

"Admiral Andsworth." President Brent Lafarge acknowledged. "How nice of you to…" The US president trailed off. "_Mon Dieu!_" Prime Minister Saul Dominique exclaimed. "What is that?" Sally went red noticing that they were talking about her. She felt like walking away but her body wouldn't let her. Her nervous trembling made her wobble on her high heels. She hated heels, hated them, hated them. Being nervous only added to her troubles.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on June 7th, my crew and I disappeared from this universe. We emerged in a world parallel to our own. In this universe, we discovered a planet identical to Earth called Mobius. It's inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures." He let this sink in for a second. "Uh…_pardon_…, you mean to say that this creature, she is a Mobian, as you say?" "Correct, Prime Minister. She is but one species of Mobian, there are hundreds." "Can she speak? _Madame_?" Sally responded, "_Oui monsieur. Qu'aimeriez-vous ?_" "_Tu parles Français?_" "_Oui._ I speak French, Spanish, and a bit of Mandarin." "A woman of many tongues. I like her already."

"Andsworth, we need to talk about this." The President cut in. "While I am impressed by this discovery, I don't know if the public can take this entire thing. I mean, Section 2 has already had their hands full covering up this attack in orbit which I _know_ wasn't a Covenant assault." Sally interjected. "I think the public can handle this. I mean, given what you know, there have been over ten other alien races discovered in addition to the Covenant. I mean, what harm could we do?" "It's much more than that…um…" "Sally, Princess Sally Alicia Acorn." "It's much more than that, your highness. You're technically not aliens, but you're genetically altered animals. You'll stir up quite the hornet's nest." "That I will be willing to withstand. Controversy is expected." "What about racial segregation, _madame_? It will happen unfortunately."

It was at that moment that the doors burst open and Lieutenant Vennettilli ran through. "Lieutenant, explain yourself!" Andsworth said. "Please excuse me, sir. I came as soon as I got the news." He saw the US President and the Canadian Prime Minister and straightened. "Please excuse me, sir. I had no idea that you were in a meeting." "Never mind that, what's the news?"

He took a breath and coughed. Chris was obviously winded. "It's Sonic, Admiral. He's been taken into custody. The UNSC picked him up after a big pursuit; he destroyed a police cruiser and damaged three other cars." "Sonic did that?!" Sally asked, visibly outraged. "I'm just saying what I heard in the report. I'll need to take a squad to get him back. Just talking to them." "Lieutenant, go. We don't have any time for this. Tell them you have my clearance on the matter. If they ask, cite regulation 28D-9: Military personnel acting on authority of a commanding naval officer may have an audience with the suspect. If that doesn't work, just tell the CO to speak with me."

Vennettilli nodded. "Yes sir. I'll get right on it, sir." He motioned to Hecks and they ran down the hallway. "What the hell was that all about?" Lafarge asked. "Just wait until tomorrow morning, Mr. President. It'll be all over the news I can assure you." The President turned to Sally. "You said you were a princess, correct?" "Yes, sir." "You have parents? King, Queen?" "Both of them, yes."

"I think I have an idea. One that can satisfy everyone from the press to our own government. Andsworth, you can go back through the gate, correct?" "Um, yes Mr. President, but I don't know how safe it will be." "If it's any indication, you're here alive, am I correct?" "Yes but-" "then I am ordering you to head back that way and let those people know that we are here. Who knows how long they've been there? If the Lost Million's descendants are over there, I want them to be rejoined with humanity." "Sir, what do you really want to do over there?"

"I was not aware it was in your job description to question my orders, Admiral." "I don't want to see Mobius transformed into another mining world, Mr. President." "I can assure you Admiral Andsworth, we will not let that happen." The Prime Minister said. "I'm still in the room you know." Sally added. "I just want to go back and see my parents right now, to let them know that we're alright." The President nodded. "Yes, family comes first, milady. Family comes first."

It was the afternoon. The city was thick in the traffic. A small squad of men from the _Indomitable_ travelled to a UNSC headquarters located in District 8, all the way on the Brooklyn- Manhattan boarder. The building itself was close to the riverfront and had the appearance of a trapezoid.

On the inside a guard stopped Lieutenant Vennettilli. "Excuse me, sir. I need ID." "Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli, Service number 09790-07820-CV, UNSCMID 012327191, 182nd Marine Infantry Division, 5th Battalion. That enough ID, soldier?" The guard nodded sheepishly. "Uh…yeah. What are you doing here, sir? This area is off-limits." "I'm here to see the suspect you apprehended this afternoon." "You mean the…uh…" he lowered his voice to a whisper. "_freak?_"

Chris noticed his hands were balling into fists. He unclenched them. "Yes, him. I'd like to speak to him." "Can't do that. I have my orders." Chris sighed. He decided to take Andsworth's advice. "Marine, I am enacting Regulation 28D-9. I am on orders from Admiral Gerome Andsworth and therefore have permission to speak to him." "Sir…I really can't…" _I'm really getting sick of this crap_. "Marine, I am pulling rank. I want into that cell!"

The poor man had to agree to the request. "If your Commanding Officer has issues, tell him to talk to Andsworth. He'll clear it up. Oh and…sorry…" He walked up the steps

Another guard was waiting near the cell. "Going in LT?" he asked. The man's dark skin glistened in whatever light there was. "We've had issues with his speaking." "What, he won't talk?" Hecks asked "Won't talk? Shit, man. We can't get him to _shut up_!" He keyed in the code to the holding cell and the double locked door swung open.

Sonic was seated at a stainless steel table. Two guards with assault rifles in their hands guarded the door. When Vennettilli and Hecks entered the room along with their backup, they twitched. "Stand down, Marine." Chris growled. The senior of the two saluted nervously.

Sonic tapped his fingers on the table. "Human, thank God you're here." He said in an almost grateful tone. He stood up but the guard commanded, "Get back in the chair, furry!" Sonic hurriedly sat. "I've been here for three hours. The guards kept rotating and I've been trying to get away, but they stole my special sneakers." He showed his feet, which were covered only with socks. "If I try to gun it, I'll burn them right off."

"Sonic, that's nice, but you're coming with us." "What do you mean?" "I mean, you've gone off and done something you weren't supposed to." "On that case, I apologize, now can we please go?" He started to stand but Chris shoved him back into his seat. "Sit _down_, my man! You decided it would be fun to go full retard and run through a city, terrifying everyone? Because of you, there's going to be _miles_ of red tape and concern about genetics and they will hate you all." He then took a breath. "In other words, you're in big trouble, mister!"

"Hecks, give me a hand here." Chris ordered. The other marine grabbed Sonic's arm and started to leave him out. "You know this is starting to look cliché! I'm getting led all over the place." "Shut up, hedgy. Andsworth's gonna _total_ your ass." Hecks responded with a small laugh. "I hate humans." "I know, Sonic, I know." Chris said nodding his head.


	16. Chapter 16: The Announcement

Chapter 16: The Announcement

June 20th, 3234, 0922 hours

UN Building

New York City, Earth

"…_and we have just received shocking news of an unidentified biological entity captured by New York Municipal Traffic Authority cameras yesterday afternoon. This footage you are about to see was confirmed to be authentic and undoctored._"

The television screen showed a busy highway street with vehicles speeding up and down its length. At once a blur swept past the camera landing right on the highway. The blur landed on the highway and was revealed to be a hedgehog standing approximately five feet tall. A white car screeched to a halt behind it and the hedgehog sped off, leaving a small backup to form.

"_We have Doctor Isaac Brimms of the Athenian Institute of Extraterrestrial Studies all the way from Athena II. Folks, please note that time dilation will cause a slight delay even though we are using Mass Free communication systems. Doctor Brimms, what can you make of this footage that we see here_?"

Isaac Brimms was a man in his mid forties, already going bald and had dark skin, suggesting African descent. He smiled as the anchorman mentioned his name.

"_Daniel this is an unusual creature. To date we have discovered around ten alien races living among the stars with us. This creature seems to be something entirely different._" The anchor leaned on his table placing his hand inquisitively to his chin. "_Different how?_" "_Well, according to this footage, this creature had a similar anatomy structure to us human beings, you can see that he has reversed joint knees and five fingered hands. I am led to believe that this may be an anthropomorphic animal._" The anchorman said, "_Doctor, please explain what the word anthropomorphic means for the viewers out there who don't know what it means_?" "_Certainly. Anthropomorphic means 'human-like'. It's a creature who looks and acts human._"

"_Where do you think this creature came from, Doctor?_" "_I have no idea._" _Illegal gene splicer? We have evidence that several facilities lie in Europe, Northern Canada and several Outer Colony planets_." "_It's really anybody's guess. This is the part that really surprises me though_."

The hedgehog broke into a run, a very fast run. The camera couldn't capture the movement and just viewed the highway on an angle. "_According to another witness who refused to be named, the hedgehog ran onto the back of his truck and spoke to him in fluent English. The man was traumatized and drove off. Also, NYPD who worked with UNSC Marines in the _chase_ reported him also speaking about humans and his extreme dislike of them. Can this suggest they are hostile_?" "_There's not enough information to suggest anything other than speculation, Daniel. We do know that this hedgehog cannot be the only one of his kind. Many experts here believe that there may be much, much more like him. Possibly many different varieties. When they will show themselves is anybody's guess._"

The anchorman nodded. "_Right, we're running out of time. Thanks for being here on the show, Doctor Brimms._" "_My pleasure, Daniel_." "_That was Doctor Isaac Brimms, he's the head extraterrestrial researcher at the Institute of Extraterrestrial Studies, commenting on today's interesting footage. We'll have another analysis of this at 11 tonight. Now let's move onto weather-"_

President of the United States Lafarge shut off the television set. The plasma inside the set dissipated and he turned around, disappointed. "Thank you for bringing our friend in for this, Captain." "My pleasure, sir." Chris nodded. He tightened his grip on Sonic's shoulder, who was sitting on the couch. Sonic winced as a slight pain went through his body. Prime Minister Dominique looked at Sonic dead in the eye. "We cannot let this go. We have tried to stop the footage from coming through, but it would not have been enough. Thousands of people saw you run through the streets of New York." "Yeah, about that, I'm sorry." "Sorry! You're sorry?! I flew all the way down from Washington to hear about this big meeting and now I hear that you've made a major red tape target out of every genetic facility we own?" "The president is correct. My country has a good reputation of being master genetic researchers. You dare to have…how do you say…_besmirch_ the good name of that trade? Not to mention every other world who houses such a facility?" "Prime Minister, I'm _sorry_. I was just…I was just…"

"What _were_ you thinking, Sonic?" Sally asked. She didn't wear the uncomfortable dress she had yesterday, but a black T-shirt and cargo pants. "Every chance you get, you want to _jump off something_." "He is usually like this, _madame_?" Dominique asked. "Yeah, all that and a bag of chips." "President Cleary's going to have my ass in a sling when he sees this."

"Who's President Cleary?" Sally asked with her arms folded. "Cleary's the president of the United Nations." Lafarge explained. "He's running the whole damn show. Inner, Outer, and Core systems." "Wow. That much power must be amazing." "He really has no power. It's the delegates who pass bills and laws." "And _I'm_ the one who decides what goes on in _my government_!" "Oh shit…" Lafarge cursed. President John Cleary walked into his room. "What's the meaning of this? Lafarge? Dominique?"

"Mr…Mr President…" Dominique stuttered. "Calm down, John." Andsworth said. "Calm down? CALM DOWN?! _Jeezus Christ_, Gerome! Do you know what I have to put up with? Russia's sending me inquiry notes, the Canadians are biting my head off and every single colony from here to the Sagittarius Arm is demanding a response!" "We'll just need to push the conference to much sooner than we planned." Andsworth said.

Sally then jumped to her feet. "Hello! How much sooner?" The men winced. "Well, with the public reacting the way it is…today." "Oh hell no. OH HELL NO!" Sally screamed. "I haven't worked anything out! I haven't prepared anything!" "Haven't prepared us jumping through that gate in the first place." Chris said under his breath. "Shove it, human!" Cleary raised an eyebrow.

"Your Highness, part of being a diplomatic emissary is to address people. Just tell them about yourself, and tell them as it is and how you got here. The public has the right to know now." "But I…but I…ugh, Christ." She sat in the chair with her hand to her temple. "What time is the conference?" "12:30." Lafarge said. "How many people are going to be there?" "One thousand." "What happens if I don't attend?" Dominique answered. "People get freaked out; lose faith in the government, and question the validity of genetic engineering. Hell in a hand basket is what happens." She thought hard, everything was going to change today. This had to be done. It _had_ to be.

"Alright, I'll do it. I won't like it but I'll do it." They all nodded. "Excellent, Princess. We should get you ready right away." The President looked at her and smiled. "You'll have to forgive us, but you'll have to get back in the dress, Highness." Sally gritted her teeth. "Fucking dress!" she growled.

They all got up to leave. Sonic also stood up but the powerful Marine grip was still on his shoulder. "I am not letting you out of my fucking sight again, hedgehog. You've caused enough trouble already. Thousands of people are frightened of a genetic war." "You're paranoid?" "We've been through worse, Sonic. We've come so far so quickly, redeveloped society to a point where other races look to _us_ for help! A hundred years ago, that wasn't a reality. Hell, we even got the flying cars at last! Last thing we need it people to be frightened. We don't need a war here on Earth of all places." "Of _all_ places?" "You can't begin to comprehend how far we've gone with a helping hand. You've been confined to your own solar system for the past thousand years. You even had the technology to go FTL. You don't know how we work." "You're right about that, LT. I don't understand the fist thing about you guys."

Sally stood uncomfortable behind the curtains of the United Nations Delegation Chamber. Just behind an inch of velvet curtains, a thousand people of different races were eager to learn about this new race. She then realized she was sweating. She tugged on the collar of her undershirt and gulped. She also straightened the wrinkles on her skirt. She was a politician but no amount of interning at the Parliament Building or hours in a classroom could prepare her for this. She was standing in the center of an entire race for Christ's sake! The pressure was _enormous_. She heard her name called from beyond. She sighed. "Well, this is it…" She took a step forward and went into the light.

There was no reaction at first, just silence as she walked to the center podium. She watched as reporters' mouths, mandibles, beaks, whatever hang agape in wonder. Then, the camera flashes came and excited jabbering came from the crowd. It hurt her sensitive ears. She reached the podium and cleared her through, the feedback answering her. There was silence and the camera flashes decreased in frequency. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. I am the representative of the Mobian Republic, the race of anthropomorphics that reside in another universe."

This time, there were a few chuckles. She then realized that this conference was being relayed to every human and alien world in the known galaxy. She was literally becoming the laughingstock of the _galaxy_! "Ladies and gentlemen, this is no ploy; I really am from an alternate universe, completely separate from this one. In 2290, Doctor Matthew Mobius created a warpgate that was planned to transport people across the stars. Instead, it backfired and sent us to Mobius, the planet that we inhabit, a future version of Earth." The reporters started yelling again, in excitement or anger, she couldn't tell which. She just went on.

"After our long separation, the human warship _Indomitable_ found us. Vice Admiral Gerome Andsworth made First Contact and told us we were not alone." From there, she described the entire experience with the humans, from the battles to the Chaos Emeralds. She could even see the science-types jotting notes down, ready to pick them apart. By the end of the experience, everyone started talking. She then found herself saying, "Are there any questions, and please let them be rational."

A thousand hands shot up. She picked one at random. "Your Highness, Gary Pressman, _New York Times_. How many Mobians are there on Mobius?" "We estimate around six billion. We're the equivalent to Earth in the earliest 21st Century." She picked another. "Your Highess, Thal 'Moram, of the Moram State on Sangheilios. Are you the only ruling member of your family?" "No, I have two parents. They are the ones who rule the planet. I am the only one in this universe at the time."

She picked more. "Nathan Filion, _Associated Press_. What technological level are you at, or what civilization type on the Kardashev Scale?" "Um…I'm not familiar with the Kardashev Scale but we are fairly advanced. We have limited space travel but we have the ability to travel to FTL speeds. We're beginning to explore our solar system at this time."

This went on for hours, she stood there answering questions from people asking about how civilization functioned, what the planet looked like and questions about things she didn't want to touch on like how mixed species marriages produced a pure child. Finally, two struck her."

A Gallvente reporter named Xhu Heckt Bal Lhamm spoke up with a mild accent. "Your highness, who was this mysterious hedgehog we saw yesterday?" She was honestly surprised nobody asked about this sooner. "His name is Sonic. He is in truth, a hero on my world. Many times over he's proven himself a noble, if not lightheaded from time to time."

"Oh great, did she just call me an idiot?" Sonic asked. "Shut up, lady's on television." Chris growled.

"One more and I think we're done." Cleary whispered to her. "Yes, you in the back." She said. "My name's James Carrey, _Windsor Star_. This Doctor Eggman you mentioned, should we be afraid of him?" Should she or should she not answer that one truthfully. Logically that would have been the right thing to do. In terms of politics, telling people the truth could be a _baaad_ thing. She decided to go with her gut and tell these people what they needed to know.

"Doctor Robotnik is no joke, Mr. Carrey. He is a dangerous man. He killed some three hundred Marines on Mobius and probably killed hundred more in the space battle that went on. He is a psycho for lack of a better term." "Was he the one with the funny shark shaped ship?" "Yes, he was." "Nuke the bastard!" A chorus of approving cheers came from the crowd. Cleary nodded to her. "We're finished. I'll wrap this up." Sally walked as carefully as she could past the curtain. "Ladies and gentlemen, this conference is concluded. I just want to thank everyone for coming and we will begin making plans to travel back through the gate to speak with the Mobian Monarchs to begin alliance talks." There was uproar of people asking if this was really real which the President didn't respond.

"I don't care what they said, you did great, Aunt Sally." Tails said back in their room. Sally sat down, watching the TV screen. She was worried about her answer or how the media would hack it up. She just sat in the chair waiting for the actual recap to come up in case people mixed it. There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Sally asked. "It's me. I'm dropping something off for you." She recognized the voice. Sally got up and opened the door. Chris stood there with Sonic next to him. He's not going to cause any harm unless he decides to jump out the window."

Tails smiled. "Why don't you stay?" "I'm on duty, Tails. I can't." "Oh come on. Just watch the conference with us? I mean, if they call you, you can go. Right?" Chris considered it. "OK, fine. I'll stay, but the first message I get, I'm out of here, alright?" He unclipped his Desert Eagle and set it on the counter. "Are you sure you should have said that stuff about Eggman?" he asked taking off his cap. He had shorter, spikier brown hair, something the guys hadn't seen often, since he mostly kept it under a cap or a helmet. "I felt it was the right thing to do." "Personally I agree. From a political standpoint, I don't know. That space battle was kind of visible. Citizens will panic." "All you guys do is panic around here, don't you?" Sally asked sort of annoyed. "It's the way we're brought up, we believe that everything will be fine but when disaster strikes, you don't know what to do." "Like when you face your own extinction?" "Exactly…we went more on instinct than thought on that one…"

"You know what we have to do? We have to stop him." Sonic said. "Excuse me?" Chris asked. "We need to stop him. Eggman has _two_ Chaos Emeralds in his possession and he'll cause something terrible with them. I know this." "What do you suggest, genius?" The Marine asked. "He could be anywhere on Earth. He goes above the clouds and out MAC guns pick him off. We still have no idea where he could be though…" Sally sat forward. "We can still get him though. We always do. Tails, you think we can find him somehow?" "Theoretically. I mean, every cloaking device has its flaws. It's like a game of Rock Paper Scissors. Problem is Eggman is cheating. He's using more than one method at once."

"You know what you do with cheaters?" Chris asked. "What?" "Cheat back. 1st Rule of Warfare, nothing's fair, all's permitted." Tails' eyes shifted as he attempted to think of something. "I think we can do it, guys. I think we can find Eggman." "Good. If Stay Puft wants immortality, he's going to have to go through us and the UNSC Marine Corps to get it." Sally smiled and gave an "Oohrah!" That made him proud to be a Marine.

Eggman was getting tired of waiting. Julian had been hiding in the oceans for over a day. The UNSC was sending boats and aircraft all over the place, even bringing their light ships out of orbit to look for him. For the time being, the cloaking device and ablative coating was working well. Any radar signature was bounced off him and the only way to tell if he was there was if somebody stood twenty feet from him and noticed the displacement of water underneath him. The turbines located on the ventral structure of the ship generated the electricity needed from the ocean currents. The way this was going, he was going to be able to be hidden for a while.

Robotnik also had the opportunity to capture television stations from scanning the air currents. It was mostly talk shows, erotic filmography and sporting events and even the rare glimpse from a spy satellite or a UAV actually scanning for him. It was when he saw Sally's face that he demanded to stay on that station. For hours he sat there looking at the press conference taking in what she said.

They planned to go back _through_? This would make matters terrible for him. He was one man. True he had a sizeable army with him but what good was an army against human intellect? He needed to find those Chaos Emeralds. Only then could he find the rest, build an empire, and take his place at its head. It was every mad scientist's dream to make a name for himself. But the UNSC seemed a likely threat against him, even more so the furballs and their new found human friends. There was work to do, and the way he estimated, it was only a matter of time before they found him and then everything would be ruined.


	17. Chapter 17: The Decisive Strike

Chapter 17: The Decisive Strike

June 21st, 3234, 1321 hours

UNSC _Avogadro_ (AGTR-518)

Low Earth Orbit.

Tails stepped through the airlock of the _Avogadro_. The Technical Research ship was hailed to be one of the best in the fleet. There were only twenty such _Reno­_-class Science Vessels like her in the fleet. This particular ship had a compliment of two hundred scientists and only a handful of marines for security purposes. There were no fighters and minimal guns on her hull. Norman Hecks escorted Miles from the transport craft. In the main atrium, a small fountain was situated against a wall with plants lined around the water. A bronze plaque bore the faces of two men.

"Who are those?" Tails asked, pointing to the plaque. "Doctors Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa. Those two guys are the reason we have translight flight." "When did they invent it?" "2290. Just after Mobius went missing. Well, that's what the textbooks told us anyway." They entered a large room that was covered with computers, lab tables, and a large volumetric display table. In layman's terms, a hologram projector. A man with welder goggles over his face was at a table mixing some chemicals. "Uh…Doctor Kellogg?" Hecks asked. At once, the man stopped his mixing and turned around. "Ah! You must be Private Hecks!" He took off his goggles which revealed sky blue eyes. He wore a charred shirt on which Tails read 'MIT'. He knew right away this was a smart cookie.

"Doctor Winston Kellogg, QeD, PhD, FIS, MD and Nobel Prize winner in the field of Physics. I am also Chief Science Officer here aboard the _Avogadro_." He heartily shook Hecks' hand. "Good to meet you, son. Good to meet you." His vision then switched to Tails. "My…_goodness_! I thought I was crazy when I saw the news reports but I never thought I would be meeting one face to face! An anthropomorphic animal!" Kellogg looked over Miles for a second. "Hmm…he dresses like a man. Can. You. Understand. My. Language?"

"You saw the news report the other day? Yeah, I _spreken ze English_." Kellogg arched an eyebrow. "Well…let's not waste time. What's your name, son?" "Miles Amadeus Prower." "That's Amadeus as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?" "Amadeus was my father's name, but yes, that's where the name came from." "Hmm! Excellent, excellent!" He motioned Tails to come further. "You can even stay, Hecks. This will only take a second." "Yes, Doctor." Norman nodded. "Now, I received a message from Admiral Andsworth saying that you needed a hand of some sort?" "Yeah. You know that space battle that went on just the other day?" "Yes, the one where those fish-like ships. I hear a lot of good people died in that battle." Tails nodded. "Yes. We want to find the guy who started it." "That's an amazing proposition, young man. How do you plan to do that? The Navy said that he could be anywhere on the planet. He has visual cloak and some sort of heat sink." "I was counting on you saying that. Come here, Doctor." Miles said with a smirk.

They walked over to a lab table. Miles pushed aside a flask and set a hologram projector on the table. He tapped a button and the projector glowed blue. A Chaos Emerald appeared in mid-air. "This is a Chaos Emerald, Doctor. A very powerful jewel that was possibly created by the Forerunners." "The Forerunners exist in your universe?" "If my theory is correct, the Forerunners had a much larger influence over interstellar travel than anyone had ever anticipated. This jewel has the ability to warp space-time, act as a particle collider, and you could even enhance weapons and armor with the natural produced energy, dubbed 'Chaos Energy'".

Kellogg took a look at it. "You think this guy has a Chaos Emerald?" "We think two, but he could have more." Hecks said. "What are the characteristics of the jewel?" Kellogg said tapping his chin with his index finger. "Well, let's see, they're yea high," Tails began, "Usually a wide variety of colors, and they emit Alpha wave radiation." The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks and Tails bumped into him. "Wait; go back to those last ones." "Uh…they come in a wide variety of colors and emit Alpha wave radiation."

"It's just as I thought. Come with me, Prower, Hecks." They followed him to a large computer. Kellogg sat on a swivel chair and started tapping in commands. "What's he doing?" Tails asked Hecks who just shrugged. "Beats me, man." "I'm accessing history databases, some of the most detailed histories that places new things into the books _daily_." Miles saw a few pictures scrolling past and text boxes. Finally the line stopped at December 27th, 2817 in the Savannah. A mining team that was searching for precious diamond deposits located underground found a small jewel about the size of a large emerald nestled in with the diamonds. A picture showed the miner with the emerald in hand. His name was 'Nuru Bubati' and a quote followed:

'_It was unlike the other diamonds, barely larger than my fist. I decided not to show it to the foreman and keep it for myself. It had a distinct blue sheen, much unlike the other precious rocks. I also felt a small tingle on my skin as if the sun had shone on it for some time. When I arrived back in my hometown, I brought it to the curator of the local museum and was offered a large amount of shillings, which I accepted. I later learned that the jewel was sent off to America to be studied as a possible alien artifact. I suppose I will never learn of its true value…_'

The record ended. Kellogg held up his finger. "Wait, there's more." He keyed in a few more dates. "Its times like these that make me happy I earned a Master's in History. Three other events showed up, all excavation reports, all carried out by James-Christianson Excavations. One of which was located on Luna in 2410. The report detailed a strange artifact located in Mare Imbrium near the Archimedes crater. A video log detailed a worker's find.

The scene was grey with a dark splotched sky. The small blue marble which was Earth lay hung in the sky.

"_Jonesy get this rock moving. Boss wants us to move at least a ton of this shit before our shift's done._" "_Yeah, yeah. Keep your beard on, Bradley. I just need to cut through this damned boulder here. I need some cutting music_." Rock and roll echoed through Bradley's speakers. "_Turn that shit off. I don't want to be hearing this…Death Chain shit or whatever it is you call it_." "_Hey, shut up for a second. I think I found something_." "_Please say its gold. I know Maroni's team found some Platinum up in Aristullus three days back._" "_Not gold, not platinum, but check this out!_" Bradley held up a rectangular bar that seemed to glow a light green. "_Whoa. What the hell is that?_" "_Looks like a…emerald or something._" "_You're shitting me. We're only a hundred feet below the surface. Plus you need some pressure and heat to make an emerald. It's like…-57 out in this wasteland._" "_Dude, we have to get this to the foreman._"

"Freeze video." Kellogg commanded. The frame stopped. "Computer, compare image of 'emerald' with the previous image." The screen split in two. Nuru's emerald was compared with the emerald Jonesy found. Despite a slight difference in color, the two were identical." "Wow. Those are Emeralds I've never seen before." Tails said with wide eyes. "How many are on Earth?" "Four. Technically three because one was found on the moon. It was probably an impact. Look at the millions of planets in the galaxy, there could be untold billions of Emeralds."

That made Miles gulp. If Robotnik got his hand on the four Emeralds here on Earth, plus the Emeralds he already had, things could get…dicey for lack of a better word. "OK, history lesson's over, Doctor. Let's find Robotnik." Kellogg nodded. "Right. I don't think there's anything else we need to know about these things." He looked at Hecks. "Private, you're not due back on Earth for a few hours are you?" "No sir. Why?" "I may need your help here. You have experience in computers?" "I majored in Computer Science, Cryptography, and Algorithmic Languages." "Excellent." He winked behind his glasses. "The hunt is on!"

Three hours passed in a flash. The three men sat at separate stations monitoring several portions of the planet's oceans. It was logical to assume that Eggman had stayed in the ocean because with the high amount of air traffic, he would have been discovered over land much quicker, that and the fact that he could use the water as a power plant to keep his cloaking device running. The problem was, with the majority of Earth covered in water, the odds of finding him were like finding a needle in ten haystacks combined.

"How about the Arctic ocean? Nobody goes up there." Hecks suggested. "No, we installed thousands of tectonic monitors there twenty three years ago. A ship that size would totally set them off." Kellogg said. "I guess the Pacific is out of the question." Tails said looking over his list of data. "I mean, the Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force is on High Alert and all satellites are looking for any trace of him. He landed in the Atlantic so I would guess he's still there. He would be going slow enough to keep his position masked."

Kellogg set down a cup of coffee. "Hey, I think I may have something." Hecks and Tails ran to the doctor. "What's up, Doc?" Hecks asked and received a piercing glance. "Sorry." "Argh…take a look at this, fellas." A section of the ocean popped up, just off the coast of the United States and the Caribbean. "You see this?" "Yeah, it's a shit load of water." Hecks smiled. "Look closer. See where it is?" Tails squinted and looked closer at the screen. The area seemed to be near Florida and Cuba. "The Bermuda Triangle?"

"What the hell is the Bermuda Triangle?" Hecks asked. "Where you from again?" the Doctor asked. "Draco II." "Oh, well excuse me. It's an area of the ocean that's stirred up a hornet's nest of myth and legend. It was originally attributed to disappearances of planes and boats from Navy Flight 19 in 1945 to the _Anna-Maria _in 2014. In 2079 researches managed to discover it was a hotspot of subterranean methane activity. Bursts of methane gas travelled to the surface and disabled some engines by flooding them. Also, gas bubbles breaking the surface could swamp boats."

Now, according to public superstition, barely anybody goes there anymore. I think Robotnik could be using that to his advantage. Now, what I discovered…" He rolled over in his chair to his station, "is that there is an uneven liquid displacement ratio here and the albedo effect just…stops here, as if it just absorbs light and doesn't reflect it back." Tails smiled. "We got him. Doctor Kellogg, can you pinpoint the location of this anomaly?" "I can do one better, kid." He tapped in a command. "I can get a tracking satellite to follow this anomaly in real-time."

A picture of the Caribbean popped on-screen; a red dot was positioned just off the coast of Florida. The satellite zoomed in and a picture of ocean was gridded. Also, an apparent displacement of water was noticed, somewhere where there should have been water. "Feed this through to Admiral Andsworth." Hecks said. "We're going to take that bastard down."

Victor 101 rocketed over the land. She was on final approach. Twenty two hours ago, the _Indomitable_ received the coordinates for the Egg Cruiser. Instantly, Andsworth got the idea who to send. Dressed in full covert combat armor, Lieutenant Vennettilli addressed his men. He brought an extra fire team of ODSTs to aid them on the mission. Their assignment was to board the ship and destroy its reactor core. A small breach would be able to take it down even.

Chris slid a mirrored helmet over his head. He noticed the HUD warming up. Heartbeat sensors, ammunition counts and even a targeting reticule. "Check equipment, everyone." "This is Two." Sally commented. "Working just fine. Chafing a little bit though." She chuckled. "Three here." Sonic grumbled. "I am really not digging this." Chris inclined his chin. "You're not paid to complain. How is your equipment, Sonic?"

"It's OK. I can see straight if that's what you're asking." "That's all I ask." "Four here." Hecks said. "I am 110 percent, sir." The Lieutenant nodded. "Alright. Command, we are A-OK." "_Copy Omega Lead. ODST Fire Team Bravo, report_." "_This is Bravo Leader. I'm fine. All members report nominal functions_." "_Copy that Bravo Lead._"

"_Guys, it's me._" Tails said over a channel from the _Indomitable_. "_Just picked up a forecast from the local news._ _Listen to this._" A weather forecast came through the Pelican's speakers. "_…tonight a major storm front will be approaching the Miami area, winds coming to a very high sixty miles per hour are predicted. All sea-faring vessels are encouraged to return to the closest port to be protected against the storm and all air travel has been reduced to prevent accidents. We're also expecting heavy lightning strikes so air traffic will be reduced to a ceiling of around two thousand feet, with exceptions to out-system flights._"

"Great." Sonic groaned. "We're in for some chop then." "We've been faced with worse, Marines!" The LT said. "Run final weapons diagnostic! We go dark in five minutes!" One ODST punched the shoulder of his comrade and cycled the bolt of his assault rifle. "Get it done, guys!" Chris added. Sally grabbed a battle rifle and inserted the clip. "Man, loading this thing…I don't know how to say it." "It's something that can't _be_ described, Princess." She clipped a suppressor on the barrel and took out her Colt Python. She spun the carousel around and locked it in. "Ready when you are, Lieutenant."

The sea was already choppy. Storm clouds bunched together and a burst of lightning connected with the sea, giving the occupants of Victor 101 an amazing spectacle. Lieutenant Green and Flight Officer Pathos expertly guided their bird through the rough winds, keeping her above the waves. "Going dark in three, two, one…" She flipped a series of switches. All the lights in Victor's interior shut off. A dull red emergency light snapped to in the crew bay, giving them just enough light to tell where everyone was. For Green and Pathos, the lights were truly out. They activated special polarizing night vision which would compensate for flash blinding from the lightning. All the search and strobe lights on the dropship went out as well. They were just relying on night vision.

"_We are dark, approaching target three klicks_." "Copy Victor." Vennettilli said tapping his ear where his mike was. "_When you touch the 'ground', I'll shine a laser beam on where your best bet is. Better that we possibly expose ourselves than you dying_." "Copy that, Green. Thanks."

The Pelican bucked in the wind as a powerful gust shifted her to the left, and made her lose a bit of altitude. "_Whoa momma!_" Green said fighting to keep her bird in the air. A shrill warning blared in the cockpit that they were losing altitude. "Pathos, shut that off! I know how to fly my own damn ship!" "Failsafe, boss. What's the point of living if you can't hear your warning?" "God _DAMN_ it!"

The pelican approached the spot where the displacement took place. From the air, the pilots could physically see where the sea curved downward, as if an invisible weight was pressed onto the water. "Do you think they saw us?" Greg asked. "If they did, they sure as shit don't care." She barely realized she was actually holding her breath. "OK, drop point reached, dropping the rear hatch…now."

The hatch disengaged with a pneumatic hiss. The air was whipped away in gale force winds. Any loose article was left to dangle on strings. Ocean spray came into the Pelican's bay and splattered all over the Marines' visors. "_Man, looks cold._" An ODST said. "_OK, Marines! Let's go!_" Chris shouted. He grabbed the rope on the end of the dropship's troop bay and slid down seemingly onto water. About fifty feet later, he met resistance. Even better, he _saw_ the deck. Five seconds later, the rest of his men landed. "_Hey, I can actually see the deck plating_!" Sonic said. "_You're right._" Hecks said. "_Maybe the cloak only works to a certain distance_." Bravo Leader said. "_Watch your step, Vankman. These decks are slippery_." He said to a subordinate, who stumbled on the deck. "_Victor, we're still not having luck finding the entrance point. Give us a hand, here_." The LT said.

"Keep your bars on, Lieutenant. I'm going." Green fired up the laser target designator. A thin beam of excited light particles formed an invisible line towards a target. Viewed through the SpecOps helmets the Marines carried not to mention the VISRs of the ODSTs however, they could determine where Victor was pointing in the storm. From the darkness, the laser hit the hull. The Marines couldn't actually see or hear her dropship because of the adverse weather conditions, but they could see where she was pointing. "_Got it. Dropping a NAV point on that location_." She saw the inverted triangle appear on her spot, and eight yellow blobs heading that way. A red alert flashed on her dashboard, the sign that there was a lock on her.

"OH SHIT! OH SHIT! WE'VE BEEN COMPROMISED! I'VE GOT _TEN_ ENEMY FIGHTERS COMING TO INTERCEPT! I'M BUGGING OUT!"

Chris looked to the sky to see Victor 101 go full throttle and speed away from the cruiser. Ten bat-like fighters moved to attack her, sending lasers steaming after the Pelican. "_Lieutenant Vennettilli, this is Flight Officer Pathos. You have to go on your own. We'll try to lose these guys and get backup to cover your escape._" "_Wilco, Victor. Vennettilli out._"

"_OK, powwow time!_" the LT said. The soldiers gathered about. Chris got down on one knee and looked at all of them, shockingly similar to him. I was like staring into an eight-sided mirror. "_Air extraction is currently a no-go_. _As soon as we get inside, our secondary objective is to locate an alternate way off this thing. Assuming Green doesn't make it back from this one, we'll need an alternate route. Ooh-rah?_" "OOH-RAH!"

They looked for the place Green marked with her designator. A blue inverted triangle signified the spot. "_Alright, who has the thermite?_" "_I do._" Sally said. "_Alright, trace around this area. Be careful, this stuff combusts very well, even in rain_." The deck lurched as the cruiser ran over a rather large wave. The princess traced a perfect square roughly four feet wide. "_Burn it_." Chris ordered. An ODST took out a lighter and lit a strip of it. Smoke and flame came from the lines. "_Keep watch for hostiles_." Bravo Lead advised. "_Wilco Sarge_." Vankman said.

"_OK, we're through_." Sally reported. "_Looks kind of flimsy now. Should give way with one solid stomp._" Chris nodded. "_Sergeant, if you may_?" "_Yeah, watch this_." The ODST stomped hard with his boot. The weakened piece of hull fell inwards and clunked rather noisily on the ground. "_Subtle_." Chris noted. "_Your plan LT, not mine_." The ODST said smiling behind his helmet. "_OK, in guys_."

Boots hit metal and squealed as they moved searching for targets. "_Two, room clear_." "_Three, room is clear_." "_Four, we're all clear here._" "_One, area clear. You getting the same thing, Bravo_?" "_Copy, sir._" "_Where the hell are we, LT_?" Hecks asked. "_Don't know. Judging from the Jefferies Tubes and makings on the walls, I assume we're in a maintenance access tunnel_." "_Kind of…lacking in bad guys don't you think_?" Sonic pointed out. "_Maybe we caught a guard shift change_." An ODST said. "_Maybe. In any case, we need to get the hell out of here_."

The ship was large, very large. According to a map they accessed, they were very close to the Primary Engine Coupling. Chris patrolled enough of the _Indomitable_ to know that couplings or manifolds directly connected to the reactor core. The funny thing was, they hadn't encountered a shred of resistance.

"_This is freaking me out_." Sonic said. "_I know Eggman. He usually has these entire halls _filled_ with robots._" "_A true soldier always holds his fear_." The ODST leader reminded. "_I am _NOT_ a soldier! I am a Freedom Fighter!_" "_OK, you're a soldier of peace_." Vankman snorted. "_Soldier of peace? That has to suck. What do you do when you see an enemy? Throw flowers at it?_"

Sonic nodded his head as if in understanding. "_Alright…OK…_" "_Sonic…_" Sally warned. Suddenly, the hedgehog dropped his gun and grabbed Vankman by the throat. Vankman's squadmates rallied to help him. "_Hey, hey, _HEY!" the Sergeant roared grabbing Sonic. "_You get the FUCK off him, freak!_" "_Sergeant! Stow it, and leave him alone! He is NOT the enemy!_" "_My apologies, Lieutenant_, _but as you saw, he _did_ try to strangle one of my boys._" "_I'll deal with my men, Sergeant. Just make sure he doesn't kill any of yours, we don't want any bodies on this op._"

Chris looked at the ODST who was grasping his neck. "_You alright, Vankman_?" "_Yeah, LT…I'm fine…_" He looked at Sonic. "_Hey, human…listen he was making jokes about_-" Chris grabbed him and slammed Sonic into the wall. He leaned in close, so close that their mirrored helmets were almost touching. Then, much to Sonic's displeasure, Chris' helmet depolarized so that his angry green eyes were visible. "_Hey…that's a nice trick_-" "SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sonic bit his lip. "_If you EVER assault a soldier again, I swear to Christ I'll shoot you myself!_" He stepped back and polarized his faceplate. "_Radio silence…hand signals only_."

The Engine Room was semicircular in design. Three large engines sat in the center and extended towards the stern of the ship. Color coded ladders and catwalks went both vertically and horizontally in case gravity needed to be changed. Again, no hostiles. Chris raised his silenced assault rifle and waved them forward. The marines marched through the maze of cords, pipes and fusion containers.

The Lieutenant pointed to Sonic and Hecks. He then gestured down the hall. He ordered two of the ODSTs to follow them. He then ordered the Sergeant and Vankman to come with him and Sally. Sonic didn't argue for two reasons. One because he was told to shut up basically, and Two, he knew that the LT was the Princess' Protector. _Then why didn't he send Hecks with her?_ Sonic's eyes narrowed. He didn't like where this was going.

The first team of Hecks, Sonic, and the ODSTs marched down the hall and scanned for hostiles. A quick thumbs up confirmed it was clear. Hecks pointed at the two ODSTs and down the hall. A quick horizontal sweeping motion of his hands signified the urgency. Sonic stayed behind him with gun leveled. There was a radioactive warning sign on the wall. One of the ODSTs pointed it out and Hecks nodded. He twirled his finger in the air ordering all of them to regroup. He tapped his COM twice and an acknowledgement light winked on his SQUADCOM. This signified that they were in potential reach of the objective.

All the way across the room, Chris received the message and clicked his COM twice to flash the light once to show he understood. He then held up a fist, causing them to stop. Chris hooked his thumb over his shoulder signifying they had to move.

Hecks took point scanning the room. It was roughly cylindrical in shape with a sphere in the center. This was a reactor core he supposed. It they could breach the field; they would be able to destroy this ship. The core was shielded by metal, possibly aluminum coated to keep the radiation inside. He ordered Sonic to stand guard outside the door. _Jesus, it's a milk run from here on out_. Hecks took his helmet off. "OK, boys. Let's get this thing scanned." The ODSTs nodded and ran datapads all over the core. One Special Ops soldier pointed to one section. "This is the best spot." He said taking off his helmet. "Metal is worn away here. Single change should breach the core." "Don't want to chance it. Set the explosives up in four other locations." "Yes sir." The ODST saluted.

"OK, charges are set." The other ODST said patting the putty explosive into a neat mound. "OK, write this frequency down, 109.72" the ODST reached for a pen or a writing instrument. He found a piece of chalk usually used to help grip. He wrote down the frequency on the bomb. "We'll wait till the Lieutenant is here, then we can-" Suddenly, the doors to the reactor chamber slammed shut. "What the hell?" Hecks exclaimed. "We're locked in!" one of the ODSTs said. "Sonic's on the outside!" the other one said. "That means…ah SHIT!"

"_Congratulations gentlemen, you have successfully imitated a routine boarding assignment and infiltrated a reactor complex_." A voice from the speakers said. Hecks may not have met the person who was speaking, but he knew who it was. "Eggman…" "_Oh, I _so_ hoped to get the hedgehog in this, but you'll do_." "Let us GO, you son of a bitch!" an ODST shouted. "_You really don't know how this works at all, do you? I'm not going to let you go_!" A slight metallic shifting noise sounded from the core. They all stared with wide eyes as a small slit appeared on the core. "_Oops, I seem to have accidently caused a radiation leak. Don't bother with the helmets, this is gamma wave radiation, it easily penetrates most ceramics_."

"_WARNING, RADIATION LEAK LOCATED IN ENGINE CORE 3. ALL ORGANIC PERSONNEL ARE TO EVACUATE IMMEDIETELY._" The ODSTs started to charge at the door, making thumps, but not doing anything. On the other side, Sonic started firing, because enemy soldiers started to show themselves. Eggbots shot at the hedgehog. Sonic shot one and dropped the gun. He sprinted to the next robot and kicked it in the face. He plucked his pistol out and unloaded it in the adjacent robot's faceplate. "_HELP! LT! Hecks and the ODSTs are trapped in the core room! There are robots everywhere!_"

"_OK, hang on, I'm coming!_" He looked to his guys. "_Come on! Let's go!_" Chris sped off at full sprint with the others right behind him. Sally soon overtook him and went to one knee opening fire at the Eggbots. Her battle rifle coughed and sent three bullets into the faceplate of a robot. The soldier crumpled and fell. When the last one fell, they ran to the core. "_Hurry, before they send more_." Chris said. "_Vankmen, Sergeant. Open the door._" "_It's sealed, Lieutenant._" The senior ODST said after a firm charge and look-over. "_We got any thermite left_?" "_Yeah, some_." "_Trace a hole, and burn it_!"

The Sergeant did as he was told and burned the powder. It cut through the metal. "_OK,_ shove!" the Lieutenant ordered. He pushed with his shoulder but was thrown back. Sally inspected the hole. "_Looks like a kinetic barrier_." She reported. "_A shield_." Chris sat up. "_Thank you, princess. I gathered that_."

"_Oh, that's an energy shield that stops radiation leaks just in case._" Robotnik said over the COM. "_Same technology as a spacecraft's radiation barrier, only someone's stuck on the inside!_" Sally's hands balled into fists. "_You're a sick bastard, Eggman._" "_Don't try to save them_."

"LT!" Chris heard Hecks cry out. He looked through the hole with the shield. "Hecks!" He said removing his helmet. "You've gotta go!" He said, now on his hands and knees. "We'll set the charges off!" "You can't do that!" The young man protested. Behind him, one of the ODSTs collapsed and went still. "_JAMES!_" Vankman screamed. He tapped in the frequency and set the timer. "Five minute fuse. Get clear of the blast radius." He smiled. "You did well, Marine." Chris said. Hecks was forced down even lower, the intense radiation taking its toll. "Thanks sir…Ooh-rah." Chris bit his lip. "Stand proud jarhead." Hecks laughed, then fell down, not moving. The other ODST was the last to fall, shuddering as he hit the metal floor.

The last of the Princess' protectors was dead, save the Lieutenant. Sally looked at the body, how he wasn't moving. Norman looked peaceful in death, despite soaking up a huge amount of radiation. The human's voice then came to her. "We. Are. Leaving! Hecks' timer is active, we just have more than enough time to reach a lifepod or something!" "_Lieutenant, this is Victor 101. We're inbound to await your signal!_" "Green?" Chris said amazed. "What's your status?" "_I'm a little banged up. Greg has a gash on his temple but we're still flying._" "Good, we're heading to the LZ. Meet us there and _be discrete_!" "_Roger Wilco, Lieutenant._"

They ran out of the engine room down the hallway. The surviving ODSTs fired ahead of them blowing away three robotic pawns that blocked their way. Vankman jumped over one going onto one knee. He fired a 40mm grenade into an approaching platoon. They were reduced to metal scrap and flying shrapnel. "_Stop them! Double up on weapons! Get Berserkers to back them up!_" "Lieutenant, those Berserkers are the ones we saw in Kayro!" Sally said running to keep up. Her Python was up and barking rounds. Secrecy was out of the question now as Robotnik knew where they were. Her revolver spat .500 rounds of bismuth that bored through the cheap metal "skin" of the eggpawns.

"Take a left at the atrium!" Chris roared as they came to a wise open area with widows on the ceiling. Lightning flashed and sent shadows skittering across the walls and floor. Between gunshots, they could hear raindrops noisily hit the Plexiglas windows. They ran for it. The Sergeant primed a grenade and dropped it at his feet. "_GRENADE, IT'S LIVE, LET'S GO!_" They sprinted a little further. A boom sounded behind them also creating a hole in the floor which would be hard to cross without a running jump. Sally laughed because these robots jumped like rocks.

"_NO, NO, NO! STOP THEM! RAISE THE SHIELDS…WHAT?! THEY DON'T HOLD THINGS IN?_" Robotnik's irritated voice screamed through the intercom. Then, the deck rumbled. "_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!_" The computer droned, "_ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, THERE HAS BEEN A REACTOR CONTAINMENT BREACH IN ENGINE CORE 3. WARNING, DAMAGE TO CORE CRITICAL. EVACUATION IS RECCOMMENDED_." "Rest in Peace, Hecks." Sonic said in a low voice. The hole in the maintenance corridor was still there, but a repair bot was moving to fix it. Vankman shot it and it skittered into a corner, bleeding sparks. "Was that necessary, son?" the senior ODST asked. Vankman shrugged. "Come on, up the hole then." The Sergeant said after sighing.

The helljumper gave everyone a leg up. "You OK, sweetheart?" He asked Sally. "Just get it over with." She said putting her helmet back on. She jogged, stepped on his waiting palms and he boosted her through the hole. "OK, LT, you're next." He repeated this process until he finally lifted Vankman up, who extended a hand to his CO.

The storm was still raging. The hull was slippery with rainwater. "_Where's Victor_?" Sally asked. "_This is Victor 101 Princess. I'm reading you five by five. I am inbound to your position, approach vector north-northeast, over_." Chris turned to the direction. "_Sound off Victor_." He requested. A single flash of strobe lights indicated her presence. "_You've stirred up the hornet's nest, sir. I'm reading multiple weapon power-ups all over the hull._" Green reported "_I'm also detecting fighters preparing to launch. Full flight count._" Pathos added, his slight condescending demeanor added accent. "_We'll manage. Stand by, Lieutenant, this will be a fast dust off_." Victor's silhouette spun over a high fin which was used to stabilize Robotnik's ship. Green dropped to their position only lowering the rear landing gear to keep it stable. "_OK, everyone in! Let's go, let's go!_" Chris said hurriedly. He stood by the door directing everyone in. Sonic jumped through and strapped in the quickest. He then saw something coming out of the hole behind the princess. He then set of in a mad sprint pulling his Ontario Combat Knife out. "_SALLY, DOWN!_"

The Princess was shocked for a second, but she turned and saw a robot about to stab her with a rifle mounted bayonet. She gasped in fear but the human grabbed her shoulder and pushed her down. He brought the knife into its face, relishing the paper thin plating. "_How's it taste, you tin can_?" Its eyes went dark and it slumped. He just noticed that it nicked his arm. A think trickle of blood leaked from the wound and dripped from his upper arm guard. "Princes, you alright?" She removed her helmet so that he could see her. Her eyes were wide; she realized what could have happened. "Chris…' "_Let's get aboard_." The Marine said through his mirrored helmet. She didn't know it, but he was blushing.

They stepped through the troop bay door. Chris thumped twice on the metal structure. Green gunned it and they started to ascend, storm winds and waves crashing around them. "You saved me…" Chris had trouble responding to it. He knew that the last person who saved her life ended up dead. Vere. "_Part of the job, ma'am_." She smiled slightly and nodded. "Thanks." "_Sally, know this…even though the others didn't make it, I'm still willing to do my job for you. No matter what happens, no matter what the odds, I will always protect you. Until my dying breath_." He placed his hand on her shoulder. She shuddered slightly but relaxed.

He then heard a buzzing in his helmet. He tapped his COM. "_Go_." "_Chris, it's Tails here on the _Indomitable_, I've just run the figures! You need to get out of there now! The blast radius is larger than we thought! I repeat: that explosion will_-" White noise. Then, a flash came from the cruiser's stern. It was bright, very bright. Before they could do anything, a solid wall of sound, vapor and gas slammed into the tiny dropship. The world vanished in white to every single person on the ship. Then, all of a sudden, red lights snapped on and a quick droning klaxon sounded off. "_Not good, not good_!" Green said with a hint of anxiety in her voice. "_Just lost port nacelles, we're spinning out! I'm closing the bay door!_" The door slammed shut, but everyone was thrown to the right. Sally cried out and grabbed onto a stanchion.

"_Mayday, mayday! This is Victor 101 to any listening ship in range, we're going down. I say again mayday!_" The altimeter glowed red, and a final klaxon started to blare. "_Brace yourselves boys and girls, we're splashing down_." The Pelican slammed into the water and caused everyone to be flung into the nearest wall. Darkness took over from there… 


	18. Chapter 18: The Second Voyage

Chapter 18: The Second Voyage

June 23rd, 3235, 0721 hours

Pelican Victor 101

The Caribbean Sea

The first thing that came to Sally's vision was red, deep pulsing red. She blinked her eyes a few times to try to clear them of salt water which was stinging her in numerous places. She brushed whatever moisture was in her vision and then she realized that she wasn't wearing her helmet. It took a good few seconds to realize she took it off before she stepped on the dropship. She blinked and moved around a little. A sloshing noise was heard and she discovered she was up to her torso in water. The red she saw when she regained consciousness was an emergency light.

She remembered when the shockwave hit their craft; they were tossed around like a leaf in a gale. The Pelican crashed down into the water and she hit her head…She grabbed her scalp and discovered a cut. It had already clotted over though. The water had leaked through a broken back hatch and filled up the troop bay nearly to the top. She could barely see in the dim red light but she squinted. "Hello? Anyone there?" A spark erupted from an electric conduit and spilled into the water.

"Hello? Anybody?" She saw a floating mass in the water. It was humanoid in shape. She tried to stand up but she slipped and landed on whatever dry deck was left. Her leg hurt from the landing as well as her lower back. She gritted her teeth and crawled towards the body. From the single silver bar on his shoulder and the American flag on the other, she could tell that this was the Lieutenant. He wasn't moving, which she took to be a bad sign. "Lieutenant!" She said loudly. She then shoved his body hard. He hit the opposite bulkhead with a metallic _clunk_. She exhaled with irritation and a little fear. Was he dead? No, his chest was rising and falling. She went over and removed his helmet. It hissed as stale air was expunged and replaced with the salty oxygen inside the troop bay. His eyes were closed and a cut was on his nose. It was small, but blood had leaked down his cheeks.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up." She said. He didn't respond. She rolled her eyes and dunked his head under the water. At once, air bubbles rose from his mouth and nose and he sat straight up. "SON OF A BITCH!" he exclaimed. "DAMN IT, SALLY!" He grabbed his cut. "What the hell was that for?" "Time to come back from la-la land." He stroked his hair away from his face so he could see. "What happened?" He asked. "We were hit by that shockwave and were tossed into the sea. That is the extent of my knowledge." "How long have we been out?" He asked. "Hell if I know. Could have been a few hours to a day since we haven't choked on our own carbon dioxide." Sally said with a nervous smile. "Where are the ODSTs?" two bodies were in the back, one with a huge bloodstain on it. "Looks like Vankman." Chris said with a frown. "Must have been in the crash. Maybe he was lacerated by something."

The Sergeant looked fine; at least he wasn't bleeding though. He was floating face-up in his armor. "Wait a second, where's Sonic?" Sally asked. "Took you this long to realize?" A strained voice said. "Sonic?" Chris asked squinting in the low red light. "Report." "Just came to." He said rubbing his arm. "Been coming back in and out for a little while. Didn't know what was happening until now."

Chris looked around. Vankman was dead for sure and the Sergeant was out cold. Where were Green and Pathos? "The pilots, where are they?" "In the cockpit I would assume." Sonic said. "Door looks locked though." The Lieutenant stood up, and felt a sharp pain in his left leg, the spot where he was shot. "Christ!" He muttered under his breath and stood on the uneven deck. It was sharply inclining upwards. Chris grabbed some of the rigging from overhead and went up. "Careful..." Sally warned. "I'm OK, I'm OK." He assured her. He then slipped and banged his head off the deck with a deep ringing like a gong. Sonic flinched. Chris picked himself up and gritted his teeth. A new scrape had formed on his forehead. "That looks like it hurts." Sally said also wincing. "No, as a matter of fact it feels quite nice, like a day at the spa!" Sally folded her arms as she caught the sarcasm broadside. "Today, Lieutenant?" Chris cracked his neck. "Yes, _ma'am_."

Chris tried a new trick. He used some of the seats as a ladder. The metal between the padding functioned as the rungs. Within fifteen seconds he had reached the top of the troop bay and looked at the door. "Yeah, it's locked alright, probably shut down." "Is there an override? A manual opening device…thing…?" Chris rolled his eyes but combed over the door. After ten seconds he saw a deep red latch that looked like it swung out. "Think I found it. Needs a key. Hang on a second." He plucked his Desert Eagle out of his holster, shook any water from it, and aimed at the device locking the latch. He shot once and blew the lock off. The Sergeant jumped at once and almost flipped over in the water. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" He yelled. "Nice of you to wake up, Helljumper." Sally said with a smirk. "What happened?" "I'm really getting sick of telling this story." Chris said with a snarl. "Sally, stage is yours."

The Princess rolled her eyes. "What my colleague is trying to say is that the shockwave that came from the ship disabled our Pelican. We crashed and must have been knocked out." "Where's Vankman?" the Sergeant asked. "Dead." Sally said, forcing the word out. The ODST looked around to see his body floating, bloodstained. "Poor bastard. James, O'Conner, and now Vankman."

Chris pulled with all his might. The latch was rough to pull, probably rusty. The pilots probably didn't do their last inspection, or maybe the techs were rusty. No pun intended. Finally the lock gave. A dim green light flickered on, the sign that the door was open. Now came the tough part; Chris steadied himself on the seat and tried to pry the door open. No dice. Then he thought of a crowbar, if one was carried on this bird. "Hey, is there a crowbar down there? There's usually an emergency kit in the back." "Hang on, I'll check." The ODST said.

The Sergeant made sure his suit was airtight and dove under the water. He swam down to the door. He could see that the door was cracked and water had leaked in. He searched for an emergency case that contained certain survival elements. Unfortunately where it should have been tethered, it was snapped off. The ODST surfaced. "Negative on that survival kit. Must have been ripped off in the shockwave." Chris swore. "Then how the hell are we gonna get this door open?" Then he got an idea. "Sergeant, toss me your knife. How long are those blades?" "11-3/4 inches, sir." "Excellent." Chris lost his knife, and he wasn't going to go look for it. The ODST tossed Chris the knife and he caught it in his hand. He flipped the blade around and stuck it in the crack. The Lieutenant pulled until a small divide was visible. He tossed the knife back and pushed the door until it was wide enough to pass through. "Be right back." He told his men. "Hey, no trouble." Sally said. "We'll be right here."

The Lieutenant climbed through the door. The cockpit was filled with sunlight as the morning sun climbed over the water. The sea around them was flowing peacefully around them. There was no evidence of the Egg Cruiser explosion. Perhaps they have drifted or was it vaporized. No, if it vaporized, chances were that they would have atomized as well. Then where was Robotnik? Was he dead?

His attention turned to the pilots. He was closest to Pathos, so he checked. The Lieutenant discovered that Greg's neck was twisted at an odd angle. Chris sighed sadly. He must have broken it in the crash. He was still strapped into his chair so he couldn't maneuver. Chris closed his unseeing eyes and looked for Green.

The pilot was still very much alive but her arm was impaled on one of her instruments. She seemed to have passed out some time ago. "Hey, pilot!" Chris said. He gulped and removed her helmet. Green had close cropped brown hair that was hidden under her helmet. "Green, wake up." Chris said, slapping her cheeks to get some life back into her. Her eyes flickered open. "LT…" "At ease, Green. How are you feeling?" "Like hell…oh! My arm!" She winced as she actually flexed her right arm. "Jesus it kills!" "OK, hang on. Just take a deep breath and squeeze my hand. We need to do this as quickly as we can." She nodded and grabbed the Lieutenant's hand. "Ready?" "As I'll ever be…" "Alright then. One…Two…Three." He pulled the arm upwards. Suddenly, he felt as if his arm was being crushed by and anvil. He could see that Green was struggling to keep a powerful scream trapped inside her. With a sick, meaty sliding noise, her arm came off the stick. She then gasped loudly.

"Everything alright up there?" The Sergeant asked from below. "Yeah, we're fine. Green's alright." "Greg…?" "He's dead. Neck broke in the crash." "Oh no…oh-AH!" she grabbed her arm as it started to bleed again. "Bandage! Biofoam! Look in the kit behind my seat!" She said gritting her teeth. "Alright, just hang in there flygirl."

Chris jumped onto the bulkhead looking for the medical kit. He found it and cracked it open on the 'ground'. He picked up a canister of biofoam and a length of bandage. He also grabbed a hypospray canister of anesthetic. He climbed back up. "Excuse me…" he said to Greg, who of course, didn't respond. He climbed back up to Green. "OK, this is something to keep the pain down." He stuck the injector into her arm and at once she calmed down. Then, he filled up the wound with biofoam. She shuddered as it filled up the hole. "Keep with me, Green. I'm nearly done." He wrapped about five feet worth of bandages around her arm and secured it with a tight knot to keep any blood from being lost. "You alright?" "Yeah…how many more are alive?" "Just four of us, including me. Vankman's dead."

She looked around. "How long have I been out?" "A day I think." "They didn't send a rescue out for us. "Storm was too choppy; they needed to wait it out." "Well look where that got us. We need to get out of here somehow." She smiled. "Got that covered, LT." She reached into the center of the cockpit and flipped open a plastic covered button. She pressed the button and detonated seven explosive bolts on the canopy. The windshield blew off the Pelican's body and landed in the water. A wave of fresh, slightly salty air hit them. "God, that's so much better." He said.

Chris came back through the doorway. "OK, everybody still standing, listen up! Green is alright and we've blown the top off this bird. If anybody wants some fresh air, right up this way. We'll be sending out a rescue beacon but hang tight, it might be a little while before someone finds us." They all nodded. The ODST Sergeant headed up first. "Lieutenant, I hurt my leg, give me a hand." Sally said. Chris nodded and walked to her. "OK, on three." He put his arm around her shoulder. "Three!" She stood up and Chris held her. "OK, looking good! Just grab the rigging if you need support.

They made their way up the steep incline to the top of the seats/ladder. "OK, this is where it might be a little uncomfortable." Sally said with a nervous smile. Chris didn't see Sonic who was squinting suspiciously. "OK, how much do you weigh?" "Hey!" "Just need to make sure. I AM wearing over 50 pounds worth of gear and guns. I just need to make sure I won't need another man for this. Sally blushed. "125, happy?" "Quite. Sonic get over here."

"Yes sir, reporting for duty." "Here's the plan. We're going to boost her Highness onto our shoulders. We're then going to get the Sergeant to help her up. Sound like a plan, Helljumper?" The ODST nodded from above and gave the thumbs-up. Chris grabbed Sally from under the arms and lifted her into the air. His arms sagged slightly as the combat gear took its toll. "Sonic, assistance!" the hedgehog obeyed and also grabbed under her arms. Then, they placed her on their shoulders. "You good?" "I'm fine." She confirmed. The Helljumper above took both her hands and pulled her up. "You OK, your Highness?" "Yeah, I'm OK…oh my God…" She said as she noticed Pathos' body. "Don't look at him, just get out of here." She nodded carefully walking towards the opening.

"Alright, we go up?" Chris said. "Yeah." Sonic responded. "But um…one thing." "Shoot." "Stay away from her." "Excuse me?" Chris asked, not quite sure of what he said. "I said," he then thrust Chris into the wall. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" "_Are you brain-dead?!_" Chris exclaimed. "I don't want my entire relationship destroyed because of _you_!" "What are you talking about?!" "She's _mine_!" Sonic said snarling. "You stupid bastard! I'm just doing my job!" "Looks like you got a raise." _Ouch. That one hurt my feelings_.

"Sonic, whatever's going on is business. I'm not trying to steal her, I don't even know if she even likes me. So can you just shut up, grow some maturity and get the hell on with life?" Sonic paused, and then said. "Alright." "And one more thing?" "Yeah?" Chris reached back and landed a punch right in Sonic's jaw. "You touch me again, you're fucking _dead_. We clear?" Sonic rubbed his bleeding jaw. "Crystal, _sir_."

"Alright, you go up." The Lieutenant said. Sonic nodded and climbed up the hatch. Chris followed behind and took one last look, especially at Vankman's body. He then made sure his cap was fastened on his head then climbed up. "Sleep tight, Greg." He said passing the copilot's body. He had only known him for about two weeks but then again, being soldiers brings people together.

The outside air was calm and slightly low pressured, which suggested that the storm was just passing. Actually the storm front could be seen possibly dozens of miles away, the lightning still sparking from the clouds. Not a scrap of civilization was present. "You'd think by 3000 we would have had floating cities. Oop, correction, we have then, just not on Earth." "It boggles the mind how many planets you've colonized." Sally said sitting near the ruined cockpit. The ODST sat near one of the intakes and removed his helmet. "Yeah, they say we colonized five hundred within 50 years of the Shaw-Fujikawa Drive invention."

Sonic stood near the nose, which was pointed in the air. "Something wrong Hedgehog? Sharks?" Sonic's gaze was focused on the water. "Why did we have to land in the water?" Sally shrugged. "Considering we are a hundred miles from the mainland, it would only make sense." Sonic flared up. "You know I hate water, Princess!" Chris laughed. "Wait, you mean you can't swim?" sally broke out into a fit of giggles. "He can't even dog paddle! He'll sink like a rock!"

"Guys…" Green said. "I've found something that might help us pin our location." They followed her near the intakes. Tiny circles were cut in the hull where probes were launched. "UAVs?" Chris asked. "English?" Sonic requested. "Unmanned Air Vehicle. We've been using them for centuries." "How do you plan to use them? This bird is dead in the water. No pun intended." Sally said. "I'll be right back." Green said as she walked back to the cockpit. "I can probably salvage whatever juice I can from this bird and hotwire it for a few seconds."

She jumped back in and seated herself. She pried open the bottom of the floor to find the ignition sequencing wire. She snapped it and tried to get a spark to form. When it did, a slight whining came from the engines. Some bubbles came from the rear nacelles behind her. "_Confirm UAV Launch_?" "Confirm." She said. A slight thump sounded, telling her that the UAV was in the air. She linked it to her helmet's display and searched the area.

The spider-like floating probe climbed to a few thousand feet and scanned the area with its cameras. A 3-D map of the area was fed to Green. "OK, we are approximately 143 miles off the coast of Florida. We must have drifted overnight." "_Can you call in a rescue? They should have done that already_." "Negative, Lieutenant. I am detecting some severe Ionosphere interference. Must have been a result of that storm." "_How much fuel does that UAV have_?" "Um…enough to keep it airborne for about two days." "_Broadcast a signal to any seagoing vessel. We only have a limited supply of food and fresh water_."

They all waited on the top of the downed Pelican. Chris stood on the nose precariously as he looked on the horizon for any sign of a boat. "The currents are taking us farther away." Sally said noticing the water moving. "We'll keep going farther away." "Don't worry. They'll find us." Chris assured. _I hope_.

The sun started to sink from its mid-day position. Chris' watch told him it was 1408. He started to notice he needed a shave real bad. Fine stubble had formed around his jaw. "You look nice with a 5 o'clock." Sally said smiling. "Nah, it's not me. I had one on Talahan V. I looked like the Wolfman!" Sally then brought her knees up to her chin. "I hear you talk a lot about Talahan V. What was it like? You fought in the Second Rainforest War there, right?" "Yeah I did. It was the reason I was drafted. It's the reason I'm here today. OK, you want a story? Gather round." The survivors listened in.

"I remember a mission that we did around two years ago, in the mid summer on the planet. August…3rd I believe. I was only a Sergeant back then. My squad had orders to drop from a moving spacecraft behind enemy lines. Our mission was to destroy a fueling station where a convoy of heavy trucks and tanks were being stored. These vehicles were supposed to head for our lines in the morning. Our ship, the _Maelstrom_ took position over the planet and launched us in SOEIVs. It was my first experience dropping." "How did it feel?" The Sergeant asked. "It felt…like I was dropping into hell." "Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" the ODST said with a wide smile.

"Anyway, when I hit the ground, I felt as if I was being forced into the earth. I kicked the hatch away and jumped into the open, immediately finding cover. No fire came, so it caught some of my guys off-guard. My second, Dean, took cover behind a tree and advised we move up. Our UAV was scanning the area so we knew where to go. It was pitch black, only our gear provided us with light. About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the edge of the camp. Sid, our Heavy Weapons guy got us through the fence and we surrounded the edge. We sniped the outer guards when nobody was looking and then we destroyed the fueling station. The blast was larger than we thought nearly destroying the tree-line where we were. We thought all was over and done with, mission accomplished, when we heard five rotors on the wind." "Helicopters…" Sonic said. "Right. Insurgent helicopters had moved to engage us after they discovered that somebody had torched their base. From then, Dean told me that we had to move out, like NOW and haul our asses like no tomorrow. So, I jumped up and ran, they found us hiding, even though the natural rainforest enveloped our natural body temperatures. We booked it for nearly ten miles and then, that's when we heard-"

A loud horn cut him off. It was very, very loud. The Lieutenant looked over his shoulder to see an aircraft carrier coming towards his Pelican. "Well it's about time!" the ODST Sergeant said jumping to his feet. It looked like a _Cheshire_-Class Aircraft carrier, one of those three-hulled kinds. These models were built in Britain, and mostly used by the western navies. Some were even used on some other worlds like Dwarka, Ballast, Constance, Ceta Centauri, and Kappa III.

The _Cheshire_ blew its horn again as it grew closer. Every Marine jumped on the hull of the Pelican as they tried to get noticed. Sally got a little too enthusiastic about her jumping and jumped clear _off_ the hull. She squealed as she hit the water. "Sergeant, you alright?!" "Yeah! I'm a little wet though!" She swam to the rear of the dropship and walked up the slanted body. "Nothing like a quick dip to clear your sinuses, huh?" She said shaking her hair.

"_Attention soldiers! This is the UNSC Mykonos_._ Stay calm; we are deploying a rescue boat_." Within minutes of saying that, a small Zodiac-like craft was approaching their position. Several SEALs were on the boat. "You all OK?" the leader asked. "Damn good to see you guys!" The LT said. "Sorry we couldn't get here sooner. Ionosphere storms were fucking with our sensor arrays. We couldn't get a good signal on you!" They all piled on the boat and started to sail back to the _Mykonos_. "What the hell were you guys doing out here? There's nothing for miles!" a SEAL asked. "Code-word classified, soldier." The Lieutenant said. "Whatever." The man said sighing."

Back in space, Chris was in for more bad news. "WHAT?!" he said with both hands on the desk of Admiral Gerome Andsworth. "Please remove your hands from my desk." "What do you mean he's still alive?" "I mean that Doctor Robotnik survived the explosion of his cruiser. "Actually there's evidence that he wasn't even present at the time of the explosion. He keyed up a camera log of the MAC station _Havana_ located over the city of the same name. There was the usual stream of commercial traffic streaming past, but there was also a strangely shaped ship that was red, orange and yellow. Chris knew the colors. "Yeah, that's Eggy alright." "Also, the Armstrong Museum of Natural History reported an attack by robotic soldiers. They took nothing but a strange jewel. Mean anything to you?" "Sure as hell! He's taking our Emeralds now!"

"Eggman made a beeline for the portal after that. His cloaking device prevented a lock on him. There was nothing we could do." "So you're saying that he came here, only to go back?" Chris thought about this. "This guy makes no fucking sense! Wait…" Then the image came to him. Robotropolis. This was where he held all of his advanced stuff. His plans! With those Emeralds…oh boy, I don't like to think about it." "You know what we have to do here, Lieutenant."

"Sir, I don't know it this tub can take another round through the gate." "This ship has survived over two hundred years of hardships." He got up and strolled to the wall which held the portraits of every single man and woman who captained the _Indomitable_ in her 200 year service. He paused at Captain Wayne Derrick Griffin, the first man to pilot the ship in 3050.

"This ship…represents something to humanity. Just as the _Trafalgar_ did at Reach all those long, long years ago. This was proof that humanity could build something…outstanding, something to be proud of. They did it with the Shaw-Fujikawa drive, they did it with the Orbital Elevators, the New Mombasa one in particular, and then they made the _Indomitable_. You see, this ship is too important to let go. "Sir, have you gone Section 8? You're saying that this ship will survive _not_ based on the Laws of Physics, but on sheer willpower?" "Did anybody ever tell you that you're a killjoy?" "Yeah, I think it was a Tuesday."

"Lieutenant, I'm only saying this once. The ship will be _fine_." Chris crossed his arms. "If the Admiral thinks so." "Yes I do think so." He took a moment to think and said. "Lieutenant, are you astrophobic?" "What?" "Are you astrophopbic, are you afraid of space travel?" "I…maybe…" "Oh, there, there! Just relax. Just go back to your cabin and don't worry about anything. I swear to God in Heaven, Jesus Christ almighty and all the saints that I will do everything in my power to keep this ship in one piece. OK?" "Alright…sir." "Good boy. Dismissed."

Chris nodded. "Thank you sir." He saluted once and turned on his heel walking out of the Admiral's office. Andsworth looked at the chestnut door that he went out of. This room represented an old officer's quarters on a planet, not on a spaceship, an antique brass lamp that used light strips was on his desk and a full liquor cabinet of vintage alcohol sat in an oak and glass case. It was not the 33rd Century in this room, and that felt good.

The UNSC _Indomitable _set up for the approach into the warpgate. Several UNSC ships stood guard but after seeing the supercarrier approach, they backed off. "_Attention UNSC _Indomitable_, this is the UNSC _Dwight D. Eisenhower_. Please state your business_." "This is _Indomitable_." Admiral Andsworth said in his command chair. "I have orders to go through the gate, verification code Tango Whisky 12 Alpha." "_Verified, _Indomitable_. Be advised an enemy ship has just slipped past our defenses._" "We're going to get this guy, boys. Stand down, son." The guarding ships activated their maneuvering thrusters and unblocked the way. "_Good luck, _Indomitable. _Out_."

The supercarrier's prow crossed the aperture and slowly made its way through. "Steady as she goes, gentlemen." Andsworth said to his helmsmen. By the time the entire vessel was through, the universe they knew was long behind. "Engines within operating parameters, radiation levels spiking. We're in for an uneventful flight, Admiral." Lieutenant Velo said looking at his report from Engineering. "Good. Very good. Take on onward, Lieutenant." "Aye-aye, sir. Engines at maximum speed."

Sally Acorn sat on her bed in her assigned bunk. Tails had already assaulted her with a bone-cracking hug as soon as she stepped aboard the ship, practically crying saying how worried he was when they were gone. She admired it. It was one thing to feel sorry for a possibly dead princess, but it was another thing entirely to feel sorry for a dead friend. She smoothed her hair. She had toweled down for about fifteen minutes and had a hard shower to clear all the salt from every nook and cranny on her body and _every _nook and cranny.

"How you feeling?" Chris asked. "All nice and dry?" She nodded. "My folks are gonna kill me." "Explain." She sat straight. "Oh, you mean they won't mind that I bribed a military transport into illegally bringing me and everyone else _into another universe_ and almost dying from a thermonuclear explosion! They will _murder _me!" Chris scoffed. "Oh relax. The most they'll probably do is rough you up, some."

Sally smiled, but as quick as it came, it left. "I know what you're trying to do." "What's that, your highness?" "You're trying to take your mind off of Norman. You think it was your fault, right?" Chris sighed and sat down. He removed his cap and put it on the bed, smoothing out his short hair. It was more habit than necessity. "Listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. When a man dies under your command, it's a tragedy. It happens in many jobs. When a man died under your command and you find out his death was _avoidable_, that's when you feel shitty about yourself. It's a fine line between a life spent and a life wasted.

"Hecks had a girlfriend. From what I read in his profile she was probably expecting. What's that baby going to think growing up that he never had a father? At least that baby will know that his father died for a _noble_ cause. God that sounds so ambiguous nowadays. Geri also. He had a _wife_ is I remember correctly." "You had a girlfriend though…?" Chris looked pained as if he didn't like to remember. _Easy Sal. You're going into deadly territory_, she told herself. "I don't normally tell people this, and the ones I did tell it to are dead so count yourself lucky." He took a deep breath and went on.

"When the war came along, I left my girlfriend to fight. She had all the faith in the galaxy for me. I went, did my part, earned a few medals, got SHOT, and then I come home. I went to her apartment to personally announce my arrival. When she comes to the door, she fucking bursts into tears. She says a few words to me such as, 'I'm sorry, I didn't know' and 'please forgive me'." Sally had her knees drawn up to her chin, as she always did during a story. From the look in her eyes, he could tell she was genuinely interested. "Go on." She said.

"When I ask what all the fuss was about, she holds up her left hand, and I see a ring." "Oh no…" "She explains to me that she was engaged when I was away. From the lack of messages she thought I was dead. She proverbially 'moved on'. So I said I understood and turned on my heel. I never saw her again." Chris looked at the floor for a good while. "Lieu…Chris…I'm sorry. I really am. I know it's not a good thing to talk about." "She made a mistake. She made a stupid, stupid mistake." "Why's that?" "About four weeks after I came to her door, I heard that Michelle was killed by her husband in a drunken rage."

The _Indomitable_ coasted through the other end of the warpgate. A Mobian destroyer was standing to waiting for their arrival. "_Attention _Indomitable. _This is the HMS _Keating_. We have been expecting you._" "What is the nature of this visit, son?" Andsworth asked. "_We're here to assist you with your parking today, sir_." "Specifics?" "_Admiral, I received top priority orders from the Royals that they require you to arrive in a gyosynchronized orbit over Knothole. Transports will be dispatched later on_." "Very good, _Keating_. We will comply." "_Excellent. We will drop a navpoint at the proper coordinates. _Keating _out_." The channel closed. "Well, no doubt their Highnesses will want to talk about the Robotnik issue." Velo said tapping in a few command diagnostics. "That's what I was thinking too. I mean, what else could they want to talk about?"

"IT WAS _EXTREMELY _IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU!" King Max said pacing the floor of the Throne Room. Sally stood before him, with her jaw slightly quivering. "Do you know what you _risked_ by going through unprotected?! You could have died from radiation poisoning! You directly exposed yourself to over a trillion people who, by nature, are no strangers to _racial segregation_?!" "But Dad-" "No, no! I'm not done! You also endangered yourself by almost dying in a crash! Sally, I know you do this often but you weren't anywhere near us on this one! If something were to go wrong there I wouldn't have been able to help you."

Chris decided to make his stand here. "Your Highness with respect-" "Lieutenant, I won't have any of it!" Alicia then grabbed her husband's shoulder. "Please…Max…let him speak." The King then sighed. "You have one minute Lieutenant. Convince me not to give my daughter the punishment of her life!"

Chris gulped. There was now a lot on the line. "Your highness, as per our agreement, her Highness Princess Sally was to be accompanied by all of her Protectors, sir. By the time we left Mobius, only two were left alive, myself and the late Private First Class Norman Hecks. During our duration in the Earthverse, I made sure that the Princess received all the protection I could muster. Also, during our assault on the Egg Cruiser sir, I made sure that we all looked after her Highness, even though Hecks died doing his job." That was stretching it slightly. He had not told him the part about Hecks not protecting Sally when he died. If he had gone with Hecks, chances were she would be dead too.

"I also made sure that we found a way out of our subsequent predicament with the crashed dropship. I was present with her highness all the way through and therefore are responsible sir. If anything, I am at liability here. So please do not blame her, but me for allowing it sir."

Max shifted his weight. His words had effect of some sort. He realized that the King could put him in cahoots with Sally for allowing everything up until now to happen, although Chris knew that Max would see that his daughter's presence there today was because Chris and Norman had done their jobs. "Lieutenant, I realize that you are trying to take the blame for my daughter. That is very noble of you, and I do realize that I can put you at fault for every single thing that has happened since you disappeared." Chris bit his tongue. _Court martial here I come_. "But…she is back where she belongs. I do thank you for that." He looked at his daughter. "Don't expect me to forget this anytime soo, young lady." She looked guilty but Max hugged her. "I'm glad you're back sweetie." Sally sniffed and hugged her father. "I missed you, Daddy." She went to hug her mother. "Welcome home, sweetheart."

Outside, Chris went to meet his Mobian friends. Everyone had gathered there to listen to the verdict. "So, what's the word?" Amy asked. "We're going to be alright." Chris said smiling. There were sighs of relief. Then, at once, she came to hug him. "Glad you're back, LT."

It was evening on Mobius. Chris had patrol duty with Sonic. He was pacing around on the battlements with a high-powered sniper rifle in hand. Chris was a crack shot with sniping things. He won the Advanced Rifle Proficiency award in Basic back on Alpha Centauri in '32. He could hit a target nearly a mile away within a millimeter of his intended impact point. "I don't see why I have to have guard duty with you." "Well I could say the same thing for you, hedgehog." Sonic huffed. "You know I have a name, right?" "Yeah, I know, _Olgilvie_. I just don't want to use it!" "Listen human, I don't have time to explain it again to your hairless ass, I-"

Chris saw something move out of the corner of his eye. "Sonic, shut up." "See, that's what I'm talking about!" "No, shut the hell up!" His peripheral vision, something that had evolved with humans over millennia of hunting fast-moving prey had tracked something moving in the trees. He raised his rifle. "What is it?" Sonic asked pulling the charging lever. "Something…" Then he saw the blur again. He squeezed one shot off. The rifle bark scared several birds into flying away. The blur actually sidestepped the bullet as impossible as it was. Chris fired another shot but with the aid of Bullet Time. He actually saw the .308 round spin from the barrel and intercept the blur. A flash of red also appeared. "Gotcha!" Chris said triumphantly as he ran to see what it was. A couple other Marines turned on their flashlights. "Stand down, boys!" Chris called over the courtyard. "I've got this!"

The thing stood up leaking blood from its leg. He must have grazed it. It must have had amazing reflexes to nearly dodge a bullet. Suddenly it ran up to him and grabbed the rifle. The main body was disassembled and thrown away. The figure also grabbed Chris' Desert Eagle and point it at the Lieutenant. "What the hell…?!" he said raising his hands.

Sonic got on one knee pointing his rifle at the thing. "You have a lot of nerve to come back here Shadow." "Huh?" Chris asked uncertainly as he was staring down the barrel of his own weapon. "You know him." Sonic nodded. "Yeah he's-" The figure spoke and blood red eyes appeared on him. His voice was smooth but deadly. "My name is Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog." 


	19. Chapter 19: Shadow

Chapter 19: Shadow

June 24th, 3235, 2201 hours

Mobius

Castle Acorn battlements.

"Drop the gun…Shadow." Chris commanded closing his fists and raising them. Sonic accented this by breathing deeply and squeezing his grip tighter. The LT rolled his eyes. Sonic was a sure-fire amateur. Breathing deeply would reduce his accuracy, even at this distance. The black hedgehog Shadow didn't lower the Israeli-made weapon but yanked out the magazine and looked at the rounds. ".50 caliber Action Express; Magnum rounds coated with Teflon." "Hey! That's…right! How did you know that?" Sonic glanced from his iron sight. "He spends a lot of time around Doctor Robotnik and knows his weapons good." "Needs to be lubricated, your slide is likely to jam." Shadow said. "What are they doing here, Sonic? You know that humans aren't my forte." Chris almost laughed. "Oh, you agree on something!" The Lieutenant tapped his COM lightning-fast and said, "Attention all UNSC personnel, I have contact at my position! Load stun rounds boys!"

Shadow pulled the trigger of the Desert Eagle. His aim was off and his bullet whizzed by the young man's head. Chris instinctively ducked and activated his Conditioned Awareness. The world slowed down. As Sonic cycled the bolt on his rifle, Chris had already sprung forward. He reached out and twisted the Desert Eagle out of Shadow's hand. Chris shot twice but Shadow sidestepped him at a speed comparable to his own. Chris realized with a shock that the black hedgehog had the same abilities as Sonic.

Behind him, numerous Marines ran to assist him. They had assault rifles raised and ready to go, but the problem was their superior was in the line of fire. They tried to warn him but since Bullet Time worked by filtering _out_ distractions, they could have yelled it into a megaphone and not make him hear. Shadow made a pass but a quick swipe with the butt of his pistol caught the dark anthro in the side of his head. Shadow went down with armed personnel surrounding him.

The Lieutenant drifted back and saw that his marines were around him. "Oh, you guys got here quick." He said. "Well, you did _order_ us to come, sir." "Cuff him. If he tries to escape, give him a kick for his troubles." One tall blond marine smiled widely. "Oh it will be my pleasure." They proceeded to click on handcuffs, despite Shadow's struggles.

The next morning, Chris strolled down the halls, taking time to notice several paintings on the wall. Some of which were very, _very_ old. He noticed a few Botticelli works on the second floor, At least three Monet works and one of DaVinci's _Mona Lisa_ copies. Of course, there were also paintings of old Mobian rulers including the first, Nicholas who stood proudly with a longsword with his surname etched onto it. Chris looked at the sword. It seemed to show up all over the place, the most recent being a picture of Max when he was younger. He was clean shaven then (in a manner of speaking), and spiky brown hair covered his head. Chris could only assume it was an heirloom.

"The Sword of Acorns." A voice said. Sally had rounded the corner. The Lieutenant jumped. "Will you stop doing that?! I may accidently shoot you one of these days." She leaned up against the wall. "Yeah this baby goes back. The historians believe it existed for well over a thousand years. Who made it was a mystery and who gave it to our family was an enigma as well. All I know is that this sword was infused with Chaos Energy." "Chaos Energy…your family still has the sword?" "Yes they do. Actually this is the secure room that it's in. Fancy a look?"

Chris glanced over his shoulder which was locked. "Oh, we can't do that-" "_Please_, Lieutenant. Don't be a chicken, I mean, you don't want to ruin your reputation for not getting your hands wet. Don't look at me like that, I read over your Career Service Vitae." "You did? How many times?" She thought. "At least seven. You've had quite a rap." She began keying in the code. "Assigned to three starships, two of which were destroyed through the course of the war, earned two purple hearts, a silver star and a campaign medal, and single handedly ended the war."

"That was exaggeration. I was only _part _of the strike team that captured General Fukoma. We shipped him to the UN for trial, and execution. I'm not a hero." "Sure, that's what they all say." The door clicked as the locks disengaged. "Point is you _are_ a hero, human. Imagine what would have happened if you guys hadn't found those abort codes. That entire system and everything around it for ten parsecs would be radiated for the next five thousand years!" "I don't like to think about it."

They stepped through the door. "Welcome to the den." The room was semicircular with dark oak paneling. Lights on the ceiling were on low giving the room an ambient feel. In the center, a bullet-proof, shatter-proof and just about indestructible box of glass compost contained a single longsword still gleaming and sharp despite its antiquity. "That's the Sword, kept for over ten generations of Acorns when we needed it the most, but only this generation something magical happened to it." "The Chaos Energy impregnated it." "Correct. Wanna…hold it?"

"That's pushing it, Princess. I could be thrown in the brig for that." "Come on, it'll be interesting!" "…Can I?" She nodded. "No strings attached." She was about to unlock the box when a marine came through the door. "Excuse me, sir." Chris turned to look with an annoyed face. "Yes…Sergeant. What can I do for you?" "Sir, His Highness requests your presence down in the dungeons. He says he wants to discuss an issue with someone named Shadow." Chris nodded. "Very well. Thank you, Sergeant." The marine nodded in appreciation and walked away. "Well, put a rain check on that sword touching." "Can I tag along?" Chris spread his arms. "Hey, you're my boss, you don't need to ask." At that, Chris jogged down one of the corridors with Sally in tow.

The dungeon was not an average person's expectation of a holding area. True that was still its intended purpose but as times change, methods do as well. Instead of the medieval racks, gallows, and Catherine wheels, there were interrogation rooms, jail cells, and even an advanced Interpol-inspired supercomputer. In the main hall, a guard near the door stopped the man. "Identification please." The rabbit guard said. He had dark mirrored sunglasses which prevented Chris from seeing his eyes. The guard looked at the ID tag, then back to the man, and back to the tag. "Alright, you're clear. Can't be too sure. All you guys look alike." The guard unlocked the door and let him in. "Your Highness." He said bowing slightly. Sally nodded.

The inside of the room was lined with UNSC soldiers, each with high powered M342-A1 Assault Carbines. The Marines eagerly gripped the triggers and cycled bolts just to keep them going. In the center of the room was a stainless steel table. King Max was standing and Shadow the Hedgehog was seated behind the table. His legs shackled and his jet sneakers removed, grey wool socks covered his feet.

"Lieutenant, I hear that you were the one to apprehend Shadow." He shrugged. "Had some help." He admitted. "That's impressive, considering he has all the abilities of Sonic, right down to his super-speed." Max noticed his daughter. "What are you doing here, Sally?" "Decided to tag along." Chris sat down. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am-" "-First Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli, aged 24 of the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps, correct?" Chris leaned forward. "You truly are a wealth of knowledge. Mind explaining how you know this?"

A deadly smile crossed Shadow's face. "I've been watching you." A deep chill was sent down Chris' spine. This was the sort of chill one felt after watching a scary movie and jumped at every shadow. "How long?" "Long enough." Chris huffed. "Give me specifics." Shadow then shrugged. "At least until after you arrived. I had no idea what was happening at first. Then I learned. I studied everything I could. That's when I stowed away on your ship."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You…uh…stowed away. You know that's illegal?" "Hate to say I don't know much of anything. You see, I am an artificial being." The Lieutenant then struggled to keep in a laugh. "That's…that's a real good one! Artificial!" The King then cleared his throat. "He's not joking, son. Shadow is the product of a research operation carried out by one Doctor Gerald Robotnik about fifty years ago. This was back when we were hated by the Overlanders. Shadow was an attempt to become the Ultimate Life Form, a way to exterminate us off the face of the galaxy."

Chris then thought about it. "Where did you come from?" Sally answered that one. "A space station code named ARK. I'm not sure what it stands for. Fifty years ago, it was a marvel of Overlander technology, built into a small asteroid. No idea where they got it from." "If that's true where's the station now? I never saw anything like that in orbit." Shadow opened his mouth but closed it again. He then took a breath and said, "I think its orbit degraded. It crashed into the sea around 15 years ago."

"Rock that size would make a pretty big splash wouldn't it?" "I would assume." Chris wasn't done. "OK, smart guy. You said you were 50 years old. You certainly don't look it. Can I get the name of your trainer so I can look that good at your age?" Shadow actually smiled. "No, no, no. You see, I'm immortal."

That got Chris' attention. "Immortal? How? The only way I know to do that is through…" "…the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow finished. "Yes, they were a large factor in my creation. I do not age, I cannot die of age, and I can live _forever_." "Funny that you mention it, because we're hunting Chaos Emeralds." "I know, Lieutenant. I just said I was keeping tabs on you." Chris said, "So why come to us, and more importantly why you decided to sneak up behind me and take my weapon. A simple 'hello' would have worked." Shadow shrugged. "I couldn't think of a better way tell you the truth. It got your attention, didn't it?"

A wave of tension built up in the room. The Marines gripped their guns tighter. "Hold up, hold up boys." Vennettilli said raising his palm. "Am I sensing a proposition?" "I want to help, Lieutenant. Robotnik came back and I feel that all the power has gone to his head. He has started building, and building a lot fast. Now, I've argued with these gentlemen here," he gestured to the Marines, "to let me show you this footage." He slid a data drive across the table. "Your Highness." Chris said handing the drive to Max. The King slid it into a USB port on the side of a computer. A small video file popped up, requesting confirmation to play. Max tapped ENTER and the video rolled.

It was a camera feed from an unknown location, probably underground. It showed an assembly line. They didn't recognize it at first but after a few minutes they realized that this line was assembling hull plates, weapons, and intricate wiring. He was building airships, or even maybe starships.

A quick switch of angle revealed that it was showing a long line of similar, swordfish looking ships, each one of them test-firing their engines. Streams of red and yellow came from the tubes. "Those are ships." Shadow nodded. "Each one has the firepower equal to a UNSC destroyer. That's quite an armament." "So what do you want?" "I want to help you, Lieutenant. I want to help all of you. I have my limits too. Eggman is a force that needs to be dealt with at once. The best bet is to let me come aboard." "Give me one reason why." "Lieutenant, I disassembled your sniper rifle in two seconds. I disarmed you in less than one. I also possess the only known pair of low drag jet sneakers allowing me to travel at much greater speeds than that jackass Sonic. I am also familiar with all types of weaponry. Human or otherwise." Chris laughed. "You're no different than a mercenary Shadow, and I have met some interesting mercenaries in my time."

The intercom snapped on. "_Max? Are you there_?" Chris recognized the Texan drawl. "Gerome? Yes I'm here. What can I do for you? We were…uh…kind of in the middle of something interesting." "_My apologies, but we just picked up some interesting signals from the warpgate is the Lieutenant there with you_?" "Indeed." "_Tell him to stay put, come to Ops immediately_." "I'll be right there, Admiral. Sally, come along." "Wait, princess!" Chris said. "Yeah?" Sally asked looking back. He whispered to her. "Tell Andsworth that we have a possible Code Hydra. Remember, Code Hydra." "What…what does 'Code Hydra' mean?" "He'll understand. I uh…I don't trust this guy." He said carefully shifting his eyes towards the black hedgehog. He had the sinking feeling that Shadow knew what Chris was saying, and even more scarily, what he meant. "OK, I'll tell him."

Sally walked to the elevator. "What did he say?" Max asked. "He told me to tell the Admiral that there was a Code Hydra." "Hmm…I wonder what that means." The doors closed and they began their ascent towards the upper regions of the castle.

Ops was a circular room with computer monitors all around. Several Mobian operators sat at the consoles, and even a few humans from the _Indomitable_ Command crew were facilitating communications with the ship overhead. Andsworth was standing in the very center wearing a black wool suit and a white Admiral's cap. He had his hands in his pockets looking at the largest screen which showed a shining warpgate. "Gerome?" The King asked entering the room. "Ah Max, good to see you. Take a look at this." The King looked at the gate. "The only time it did that was when you came through." The royal said. "You don't think somebody's trying to force their way through, you don't think?" The Admiral asked. "I don't know. I think it may be a possibility. People on the other side may know you're alright simply because you made it back." "But we don't know for sure." Max smiled. "Now you know how we feel half the time!"

"Gentlemen! I hate to interrupt…" Max said "Oh yes!" in realization. "Go ahead, sweetie." Sally blushed slightly. "Admiral Andsworth, while I was down in the Interrogation room, we captured a hedgehog. His name is Shadow." "Yes, go on." The human said. "Lieutenant Vennettilli wanted me to relay that there was a possible Code Hydra situation." Andsworth's brow furrowed. "Code Hydra? That doesn't make any sense." "Why? What does it mean?" Sally requested. "Code Hydra is a designation for a threat. It's so specific that we have only used it once in history. Code Hydra refers to an imminent biological threat." "That makes sense then. Shadow is an artificial biological entity. What was the other instance which you used it?"

"Nearly 700 years ago we encountered a parasitic alien life form race called the Flood, it worked by infecting victims and transforming them into mindless drones, only living to increase their numbers." "Honest to God space zombies." Sally said. "Yes, indeed little lady. Oh, my coffee. Thank you Devlin." He accepted a Styrofoam cup of dark coffee from a crewman. "Look, the portal!" Sally said.

The warpgate flashed white and seven vessels came through, each one of different races. "Look, there's the UNSC _Senator_. She's a diplomatic vessel. The Sangheili flagship _Thel 'Vadam_, the Gallvente _Vindicator_, the Garim _Honor of Vaask_, The Datonian _Bladewind_, the Alyde _Darkest Dusk_, and the Lyshad _Pride of Vess'k_. I'll be. It's a delegation fleet. I've never seen one in my life before!" "Why? What's happening?" Sally asked. "I think, Sally…" Max said putting his arm around her daughter, "…we will never be alone again. Call your mother; tell her we have exciting news!"

"_Attention UNSC _Indomitable_. This is the UNSC _Senator_. Do you copy over_?" "We read you _Senator_. To whom am I addressing?" "_I am Admiral Blake Jeromi, head of Fifth Fleet. To whom am _I _addressing_?" Lieutenant Jack Velo bit his tongue and shaped up; he was in the presence of a member of the Admiralty board as well as a fleet commander. "I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Velo, head COM officer." "_Admiral Andsworth is not present on the ship_?" "No sir. He took a shuttle down to the surface approximately…five hours twenty minutes ago." Velo reported checking the ship logs.

"_Very well. I will be on the next shuttle down no later than 1421 hours. I assume that our clocks are within synch_?" "Yes sir, accouting for the warpgate distortion. We are on perfect schedule." "_Excellent. Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant Velo_. _Admiral Jeromi out_." The channel cleared. "I'm pretty sure I've heard of this guy." Jaffa said looking over his shoulder. "Admiral Jeromi?" Maple Feedin said looking at Jerah. "Yes, his family has a strong military history, especially his ancestor Admiral Ysionris Jeromi in 2552. Took a medical ship into battle three times and saved tens of thousands of lives." "Yeah but that's not it. Didn't he have a court-martial trial?" "Watch it Jerah…" Velo warned. Feedin bit her lower lip. Talking about the brass like that could get them in trouble. _Big_ trouble. "Yeah, he did. Apparently he assaulted a commanding officer and killed three men helping him. Also there was a count of destroying a shuttlecraft. Went on trial but was found not guilty." "Yeah but he was let off because they didn't have enough evidence to convict him." Velo finished. "That's enough backtalk, people." First Officer Sheppard said sitting down in the Captain's Chair. "We're playing valet for these people. We want this to go smoothly now let's get to it. Helmsman, go full engines baring one seven three by zero six four degrees."

The Admiral's shuttle left the _Senator_ at precisely two forty-one PM. Several other shuttles from the neighboring ships also streaked out of shuttle bays. The only armed vessel was a dropship from the Sangheili cruiser, partly because as a warrior race, they very rarely committed to peace treaties or alliances. A formal looking shuttle came from the _Senator_ and was painted in regal gold paint which made her gleam in the sunlight.

On the ground, many Mobian news channels reported the arrival of the fleet. All over the planet, Mobians looked to their television sets and towards the sky. "_I've just received word that the Delegation fleet has sent one landing ship apiece. The first one to land should be the UNSC's representative. It can be identified by its gold paint and eagle painted on the rear fins. The purpose of this gathering is to facilitate alliance talks with the United Nations which will hopefully result in a beautiful friendship._"

The shuttle touched down at the royal hangar just behind the castle. Several human fighters spun in attractive patterns in the sky, releasing colored smoke to entertain the citizens. The shuttle's pads hit the tarmac and the pilot deactivated the engines. A ramp extended from the ship and a man well into his sixties walked out. He still had a full head of silver hair and he had a moustache that could give Andsworth a run for his money. He emerged smiling as he saw Andsworth waiting for him. "Gerome!" "Blake!" They shook hands. "How in the world did you manage to land this job?" Jeromi shrugged. "Had to pull a few strings, but hey, anything to visit a new frontier!" "I hear you loud and clear. There's some people I'd like you to meet."

"Blake Jeromi, this is Maximilian Acorn, and his lovely wife Alicia." Jeromi smiled widely. "Your majesties." He kissed the Queen's hand and bowed deeply. "I can't tell you how exciting it is to encounter a new race!" "Likewise, Admiral. I feel we have been separated for far too long." Max said smiling. "My feeling exactly, your highness!" a slight noise made him spin around. "Oh, looks like the others are arriving!"

The smooth, bulbous shaped Sangheili dropship hovered above the ground and a light appeared on the bottom. A tall gracious alien with combat armor and four mandibles landed on the ground followed by small squat creatures that wore methane packs. The aliens made the King flinch and reach to protect his wife. "Do not be frightened. I am Y'gen 'Refum, Honorable member of the Sangheili High Council. These…" he motioned to the Unngoy behind him. "…are my personal aides."

The introductions were made as each species introduced themselves to the Mobians. The royals jumped at a few because of appearances but were reassured by the delegates that they were all friends. After nearly thirty minutes, they headed to the castle.

"My word this is _fantastic_!" Jeromi said marveling at the structures. "Yes, it was actually built over a thousand years ago when the first king took the throne. It's been standing ever since then. "We have such structures back on Sangheilios, keeps where we preside over the land." 'Refum said marching next to Alicia. "I am surprised with your technological level though." Representative Hama Jekal Bash Vyger of the Gallvente said. "You achieved space flight but have the normal level of a Tier 5 civilization…uh that's the atomic age in case you're interested." "Well, there's a reason behind that, Representative Jekal…" Max began and explained the basic premise of Mobian technology to the curious alien.

Down in the dungeon, Chris still sat at the table guarding Shadow. The Marines were also likewise hadn't changed shifts. While the soldiers didn't say anything, they had terribly hurting tootsies. Nevertheless, they kept their rifles trained on the black hedgehog. "Remind me again, Lieutenant. How long have we been here?" Chris glanced at his watch. "Three hours, fifteen minutes." "I have not moved from this spot in those three hours fifteen minutes. Have I not convinced you that I am on _your_ side here?!" Chris sat back. "Not particularly. You pulled a gun on me…" "…after you shot me! I was only defending myself!" "Oh and how is that leg of yours? It must be infuriating to find out that you happened to be injured by a human who is physically unable to stand against you. I would personally blow my top." Shadow shook for a second and launched himself across the table grabbing Chris' throat. They screamed unintelligibly and Shadow bashed the LT's head against the concrete floor. The Marines turned their guns and laser sights sprang on. "Don't shoot! _I'm in the line of fi-_" He received a fist to the face and got a bloody nose. "ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" He said kicking Shadow off him and charging him into the wall.

"…of course we would be willing to grant you full status and say in United Nations matters, your highness. We can assign a delegate or two to represent your planet." Admiral Jeromi said in the castle's conference room. "That would be favorable. I am preoccupied with issues here on my planet and I must say Admiral Jeromi, you have taken a great risk to be here." Max said. "Your highness…" "Max, please." "Max…my family has been…_gung ho_ for lack of better term. I would be more than willing to extend the hand of friendship, no matter the situation. Thanks to Councilor 'Refum's ship…" He nodded to the Sangheili who nodded back. "…we have the best protection in the sector and we also have the Garim's Tesla cruiser and, of course, the _Senator _is no slouch in combat either, despite her role."

"This brings us to the next stage in the meeting." The Elite said, mandibles wavering in speech. "We would like to extend the possibility of Orbital Defense Platforms placed in Mobius' orbit." "Come again?" Alicia asked, not familiar. "What he means to say, highness is that we can put guns in space to protect you." Jekal translated. "Oh I don't know if that will be the best course of action, gentlemen." Max noted. "Care to explain? All of our allied planets have MAC stations in orbit." Alicia said, "We are a peaceful race, gentlemen. We've kept our wars to a minimum and truthfully, we aren't expecting any uninvited guests from the stars." "…It may, be a possibility, Alicia…" She wheeled around to face her husband. "Max?" "I think that it may be in our best interest to militarize our area of space." She laughed for a second. "Max, consider our accomplishments!" "Alicia, consider the fact that when we won the Great War, the Overlanders left on a sour note. I know Colin. If he decides to return, he will not be in the best mood. He may turn his weapons against us again."

Alicia sighed. She remembered the war too, what they almost did to her people. She nodded. Max turned back to the delegation. "Gentlemen. I believe that it will be in our best interests to militarize Mobian space at least the distance to New Mars." The human Admiral nodded. "Very good, Highness. We can construct MAC platforms quickly. You can expect to receive over a hundred separate stations all positioned over key areas over the planet." "How soon can you deliver them?" "Within three months." "Excellent."

"Are there any other points you would like to cover?" "We've gone through a lot…oh wait! Your men have proved invaluable to our security. I request that UNSC Marines keep a constant presence on the planet and our space to be patrolled by a small fleet of ships. If you can spare it that is." "No, no that will be fine. Your citizens also have the ability to come to our world at their own discretion though. I am afraid that your daughter's announcement has resulted in some slight unrest. Religious and anti-genetic zealots have accused us of 'tampering with nature'." He rolled his eyes. "You are also welcome on any of our worlds, as is the terms of our past agreements." 'Refum announced. "That is very kind of you, but for the time being we are perfectly happy here." The Sangheili nodded. "Noble of you."

The final stage of the negotiation was to sign the charter. The Unified Earth Government Charter of Alliance was something of a holy relic. Used only seven times in existence when an alien race allied themselves with the UN. On the sheet, each of the representatives signed their names. Alien characters spread all over the lines. Some tried to print their names in English with some effort, the most noticeable being the Sangheili Councilor, his fingers awkwardly struggling with the feathered pen. The Unggoy behind him giggled as they saw their boss struggle with the writing instrument. Elites fought wars, not write books, although their families sagas were often chiseled into stone, or family war poems were sung by talented bards.

The Gallvente representative signed with almost human-like efficiency. Having studied at Cambridge University in England, Representative Jekal achieved fluency in English, as well as several other Earth languages. He valued his position as an ambassador of peace and found himself at home with humans. Not surprising since most Gallvente technology was based on humanity's.

The Alyde councilor came next. His ears twitched in excitement. The sunglasses he used to protect his fragile eyes sparkled in the sunlight. He wrote his name in J'thulan, the 'language of the land'. The Garim and Lyshad signed their names almost simultaneously, and the cycle continued until Max was left to sign. He gulped and leaned forward. "Are you ready, Alicia?" "Yes darling." Max placed the pen on the parchment and printed his name in elegant characters, his wife following suit. Alicia signed her name but was shaking slightly. She was excited. She finished her 'n' and unintentionally added a curved tail. It still looked good.

Max passed the charter back to Jeromi who signed his name. "Your highnesses, welcome to the family".

"_June 25__th__, 3235. After nearly a thousand years of isolation from the mother race, the Mobian Republic has formally announced its alliance with the Unified Earth Government and all within its political alliances. The King and Queen initiated in a three hour alliance talk with the seven races representing the United Nations and in the end reached an agreement that satisfied them both. Selections are now underway within the House of Parliament for two representatives which will act as ambassadors for the Mobian race on Earth. They will be the second group of Mobians ever to travel to Earth._"

This news report was broadcasted on all stations, on all channels to every single anthropomorphic on the planet. Those who did not have televisions or radios were informed personally. In Knothole, flights of human jets flew over the palace in formation, and citizens watched as Human, Mobian and many other races shook hands.

"_This just in: The Unified Earth Government has just cleared the proposal for conditional travel through the warpgate. Admiral Blake Jeromi, humanity's representative stated just minutes ago, 'All who wish to see the planet that so long ago was lost to you will have your desire satisfied'. Transports cleared by Knothole Internal Affairs will be commissioned to transport all with proper visas to and from Earth. Registrations for visas are expected to take place on July 2__nd__. We will have more information for you as we continue to receive more information on this historic day! I'm Daniel Kovacs; we'll have more news for you at eleven o' clock tonight. Thank you._"

"I can't believe it really happened." Sally said watching the TV in her room. "You knew it was going to happen too, Sonic. One of these days." "Yeah, I guess that there was no stopping it." "The _Ancients_ and the _Mobians_! Side by side! It's just too much to think of right now!" "Sally…I wouldn't lose your head over these humans. They haven't changed a bit." "Sonic, you're wrong. These humans…they're different from what we saw in the textbooks, in the video clips. They were learning back then, making mistakes." "An atom bomb dropped on a city and over 100,000 deaths is a pretty big mistake, don't you think?" "I can't believe you Sonic. You just _harp_ on the warfare portion of humanity! Why do you _hate _them so much? I don't want your usual bullshit, I want real answers." "It was just the way I was brought up! My father-" "Your father was _wrong_." Sonic's brow creased with anger. "You leave my father out of this, princess. He was-"

A Marine came to the door. He was visibly winded, possibly by a long run. "Your highness…your highness…you have to come quick." "What's wrong, soldier?" She asked with concern. "Are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine. It's the LT you should be worried about." Her eyes went wide. "He's not…?" "No, he's alive…for the moment. You'd better come quickly."

"How long have they been going at it, exactly?" they said jogging down the hall. "About an hour, maybe an hour thirty." The Marine reported jogging alongside them. "Were you a guard, Sergeant?" Sally asked. "Yeah, I was assigned to look over the room. He insisted that we stand down, but I couldn't take it anymore. They're killing each other in there, princess." The group rounded the corner and came to the interrogation room. "Look through the glass, princess." Sally and Sonic glanced through the glass and discovered the room completely deserted of Marines but the walls were speckled with blood. Whose blood though?" Suddenly Chris' face was slammed into the wall. It made Sally screech and jump backward. Shadow grabbed the Lieutenant's arm and spun him around. Amazingly, Chris caught himself and roundhouse kicked Shadow in the gut. He stumbled into the table and Chris clotheslines him. The Human's face was marked with cuts and scratches. His nose was broken and a large bruise had appeared under his right eye.

Shadow was no better. He had a large cut on his shoulder and the one on his leg started to bleed again. Physically speaking, Chris had him at a disadvantage, but due to the Lieutenant's fighting style, he didn't realize this. "_Come on, hit me!_" Chris challenged, his voice sounding tinny and distant over the COM. "_I plan to!_" Shadow said leaping forward and hitting Chris in the face. Sonic winced. "Wait a second I thought he was in cuffs!" Sally said. "Yeah be broke those. We underestimated his strength." "Oh my God, I think you guys killed him!" Shadow drove an uppercut into the Lieutenant's jaw and sent him half a foot into the air. When Chris landed, the wood shards bounced as his body hit concrete with a _whump_. Shadow smiled. "_GET THAT DOOR OPEN!_" Sally yelled. She ran through the door. Shadow saw her, frowned and yelled "_CHAOS CONTROL!_" He vanished in a flash of photonegative light. "Get a med kit!" Sally demanded. "Is he alright?" The Marine asked. "Yeah. Looks like he's just out cold. That shiner under his eye looks pretty." Sonic said regarding Chris' position. "Sonic, shut the fuck up." Sally said with such finality. It was more of a statement, a harsh command that had instant effect.

The Sergeant grabbed his COM pack and said, "Attention Medbay, we have one patient en route, significant wounding. Uh…blood type O positive. We are still possibly Code Hydra, repeat Code Hydra." "_10-4 Sergeant Mallard. We'll have him prepped for treatment. Also copy your Code Hydra. We will relay to Command. Medbay out_."

"Oh this is _so_ now what we all need today!" Sally said kneeling next to the Lieutenant's form. "You know I'm detecting a lot of irony here. Guy wants to form alliances between himself and Mobians and ends up getting his ass kicked by one."


	20. Chapter 20: The Talk

Chapter 20: The Talk…

June 18th, 3235, 1324 hours

Castle Acorn

Intensive Care Unit

Three Days Later…

"Easy son, easy there. Good boy." Blackness gave away to light. It was a rather bright light as the Lieutenant opened his eyes. Standing over him was an anthropomorphic duck. He was wearing the sterile white coat of a medical physician, complete with stethoscope around his neck. "You feeling alright, son?" Chris blinked. "I'd feel better if I knew where I was." The doctor smiled. "You're in the Castle Acorn Intensive Care Unit." "Uh-huh. Who the hell are you?" The duck laughed. "Good! Get your brain jumpstarted! I am Doctor Quinton Horatio Quack, and I son, have just saved your life!" "Well, thanks for that…and what the hell is this?" Chris asked pointing to his arm. A needle was inserted into his wrist and red fluid was flowing into his arm. "That is an osmotic IV drip. You've lost quite a bit of blood in your scrap."

Chris felt his head for any cuts. "Fill me in. What happened?" "Don't sit up; your bones are still healing." Quack said gently pushing Chris into the laying position. "You were knocked on the noggin, quite hard too. I had to stitch together your skull again. Not with needles or staples, with your good, old-fashioned bio-regeneration fluid, hexo-2, 4 perchlorate-3-pentcalacyde."

"So, you dunked me under. How exactly did I get here?" "By gurney." Quinton admitted. He moved to a centrifuge and placed several blood samples. "Three marines carried you here on said gurney. Her Highness was the one who called it in." "Sally rescued me?" "Apparently. You arrived here shortly thereafter and we discovered you were bleeding out. I needed to get some blood samples from you so that I could flash-clone a few pints for you. Yes, you lost a good few pints of the red stuff." "Shit…" "Yes, indeed. The blood transfusion was simple enough. It was limb regeneration that made things difficult. You know your left humerus was broken in two?" Chris rotated his arm. "Now that you mention it, it does feel a little stiff." "Stop moving, son. Let me continue."

"I had to keep you sedated so that I could work on you. You would have suffered from an acute stress reaction. Shock in other words. That wouldn't have been nice. Truth be told I wasn't expecting you to come to until around tomorrow." "Lucky me." "Yes. Unfortunately that makes it difficult for the tissue regeneration I've injected into your bloodstream. It works best when heart rate is slow and body functions decrease in frequency. So, my diagnosis…get some sleep." "But I just got up…!" "Sleep. Doctor's orders. I'll wake you if you get any visitors." The door to the infirmary opened and a group of people walked in. "Speaking of which, you got lucky today Lieutenant."

Quinton smiled. "Take care of your business, but you need your beauty sleep. Better not catch you up and about though. I have other patients to attend to."

The first person that came to his bunk was Tails. "How are you feeling?" He asked. His blue eyes bright with concern. Chris laughed. "I got my ass kicked." "Yeah no kidding." Sally Acorn said sitting down next to him. "Chris, what happened? Shadow just jumped onto you." Chris but his tongue angrily. He knew he goaded the hedgehog into attacking him. "He just got into a rage, attacked me out of nowhere." The camera would be in his favor as he was not facing it when Shadow attacked. "That does sound like Shadow." Sally said nodding. "So, how are you feeling?" "Like hell. Doc says that my limbs need to have some additional regeneration done to them." "The blood?" Tails asked in a tiny voice. "Replaced. I'm good." "Good. I thought…you were going to be a raisin!" Chris laughed; maybe it was the morphine that made him giddy. "Listen. Princess." "Yes, Lieutenant?" "I…thanks." She smiled. "Don't mention it. It's part of the job." He smiled, but it quickly faded as he saw Sonic. "You're lucky we came when we did." Sonic said. "If that Sergeant hadn't found us, Shadow would have killed you." "That's a little overdramatic, hedgehog." "Oh, that's right! You marines think you're invincible!" "I _AM _INVINCIBLE!" He said with an evangelical tone to it. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Forget it, I'm done here. Rest up, human. You're going to need it!" "I love you too, Sonikkun!" Chris called down the hall. "_Don't call me that!!!_" Amy giggled. "What's up?" Chris asked. "That's his pet name! _I _usually call him that! He hates it…like he hates me…" Her gaze went to the floor. "Can we have a moment?" Chris asked. The others nodded. "Amy, do you like Sonic?" She sat down in the chair next to his bed. Against orders, Chris sat up. Immediately he paid for it as a pain shot up his front. She nodded. "Yeah…I do…" "Do you love Sonic?" The answer was immediate. "More than he'll ever know. It's not compulsive possessiveness! I…really love him…" Chris was now interested. Sonic was a real big figure on this planet. Why would he resist the opportunity to be with someone who genuinely liked him for _who he was_? "Have you told him?" "Ever since I first met him I tried to tell him. He never lets me get close to him. I don't know." "Do you think he's in love with err…um…" he hooked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate Sal.

"The princess? I'm almost certain. She also loves him as well. The thing is she loves him back! I don't know what to do! Help me!" "Calm down Amy, calm down." Her breaths came shallow. "Listen to what I'm saying. I've had my heart dashed before. It's a painful process. The thing is, don't you ever stop trying. When you see your objective, what's the correct way to it?" She sniffed. "Trick question, there _is_ no definite way to approach it." "Excellent answer. See how it relates?" Her eyes darted from side to side. "What you're saying is that there's more than one way to win Sonic's heart?" "I want you to try them all. You want to find love though, not simple attraction." "I've got it." She said smiling. "Amy…?" Chris said. "Hmm?" "I'm always here. You want to talk about anything, my door's always open." She smiled. Amy leaned over and kissed Chris on the forehead. "Thanks Human. Thanks a lot." Chris smiled. He wasn't expecting the kiss but he achieved his desire all the same. His job _was_ to help people!

"Alright people! Clear out! Give the man some space!" the doctor said shooing everyone out. "Beat it! You can come back tomorrow!" The guys waved. "See you soon!" Miles said smiling and then exiting. Quack closed the door. "Well, that was an adventure." Quinton looked at Chris' EKG meter. "The only change I notice is a slight increase in blood pressure. Saw an old friend?" "Nah, just a nice little talk with Rose. Feels good giving advice." Quinton nodded. "Yeah, you know I have to give a lot of advice in my position, makes me feel important." He keyed in something on the computer. "You know I worked on every single one of our freedom fighters at one time or another. I am happy to say that you are the worst injury that I have seen in a long time." "Should I be happy about that?" Chris asked. "Yes, extremely! That means that they're that _good_!" He typed something else in. "OK, I've just run the sedative diagnostic. You're going to fall into a peaceful sleep in around fifteen minutes. Tomorrow I'll be ready to discharge you." He started to turn away. "Hey Doc?" "Hmm?" "Thanks for everything." Quack pointed his clipboard at the Lieutenant. "Thank _you_. It's always a pleasure to see a new face. I'm glad that the first human I got in here was a good boy such as you. Have a nice nap, son." He closed the blinds. The room was plunged into darkness.

Chris closed his eyes. The steady beeping of the EKG meter was his lullaby. Darkness set in, and in mere minutes, he was asleep.

He was back on Talahan. It was 3233. "OK, GET SET TO H.A.L.O.! SECOND SQUAD, CHECK YOUR RIGS AND EXECUTE ON MY MARK!" The man speaking was Captain Benedict. Dead for over two years, killed when his APC was destroyed by a carpet bomb. Chris wasn't present, but it his death meant that he had responsibility over the squad. "Ready on the wings!" The Crew Chief said. "Green light in thirty seconds!"

His breathing was hard. His faceplate was fogged up. He was dropping into a hot zone, 5th Brigade troops had requested reinforcements to hold the line. Naturally they requested the 182nd Marine Infantry Division to assist. The 182nd had a famous and infamous reputation of getting the job done since its inception in 2572. "Ten seconds! Get set for H.A.L.O!" The Crew Chief announced. "Here we go, people!" Benedict yelled. "Green light! _GO, GO, GO!_" The Chief yelled waving his arm to signal the jump. All of the Marines hollered a battle cry and leapt out of the Pelican. Immediately, they drew Anti Aircraft fire. The Pelican took a hit in the nacelles and pitched towards the earth. "_Spread out! Minimize hit probability_!" Benedict ordered. In the night, he was indistinguishable in the sky. The only way he saw his teammates was when they were accented against the low lying clouds. "_Ortega, Horton, get back over here_." First Lieutenant Kapplin said. Kapplin died when his squad was ambushed by rebels in the jungle. The coroners said that he absorbed so much lead that his body was unrecognizable.

Chris' HUD displayed his altitude. They were just dropping into the twenty thousand foot mark. The summits of the tallest mountains were just starting to pass them. "_AAA is pegging our boys!_" Kapplin reported to Benedict. Fireballs were beginning to streak down to Talahan's surface. Chris knew that each one was a Pelican or a Longsword escort. Anybody who hadn't jumped in time was riding to hell on a meteor. "_LZ is coming up! Jetstream is pushing us off course!_" Benedict said noticing them drifting into the mountain range. "_Think they spotted us_?" a marine asked. "_Not a chance in hell_." Benedict growled. Chris gulped though. He knew Innies. In his previous engagements, the enemy _knew_ where to find the unfortunate souls of Fire Team Uniform, despite wearing ghillie suits, having cold water circulated to mask thermals, and a portable radar jammer, they still found them. Uniform's boys were never seen again. They had no idea whether they were dead or not. Something not even Chris knew to this day.

Tracers came from the ground and hit a marine in the chest. He started to spin in free-fall, killed instantly by the fifty caliber rounds. "_We're approaching green zone! Ripcords now!_" Benedict ordered. Instantly, over fifty parachutes opened and each Marine was lifted into the night. "_Watch it, approach vector hot. Recommend we land near the tree-line and work our way in_." Kapplin advised over TEAMCOM. "_Agreed. Let's do it people_." Benedict said.

The Marines landed whisper-silent. Each one of them hit the ground with a slight roll. As soon as that was finished, each one raised their rifles, scopes gleaming in the twin moons. The third was hovering over the illuminated half of the jungle world. "_Kapplin, take Fire Team Alpha. Ramona, Phelps, Andrews; follow him. Jessupe, Aer, Collins, Quince; on me. Sergeant Major Vennettilli, you have your boys on this one. Come back alive and in one piece Fire Team Charlie!_" Benedict turned to look at the rest of the men. "_The rest of you grunts scatter, but don't give away your position._" They nodded and faded into the night.

The Marines made their way through the forest. A bird call in the sky caused then-Sergeant Major Chris Vennettilli to sight his rifle. He saw the flying beast and took his finger from the trigger. "You OK, Sarge?" Lance Corporal Dean Sheppard asked. As far as Chris knew, Dean was one of the two members of his squad ever to survive Talahan. About a week after the war, he was reassigned to the UNSC _Hood_. Three days later, the _Hood_ was ambushed by a small Covenant Remnant fleet. Three ships against one. The _Hood_ was destroyed but Chris never saw Dean's name among the casualty lists. He hoped he was still alive.

Corporal Sid Romano, Heavy Weapons Expert, killed from a sniper's headshot, took a look down the road. "Just a bird guys. Come on, Sarge. Let's get focused. "Yeah Sid. OK, boys, move up." The fireteam advanced through the jungle. In the low light, none of the teams were visible. Benedict, Kapplin, none of them. He could still hear them over the radio. "_We're about a klick from the objective. Watch your flanks. Intel says that sniper towers cover this area._" "_Why would we ever doubt Intel. Those spooks have 'saved' our asses on _several_ occasions_." The voice came from Corporal Charles Madison, Chuck. He was Chris' oldest friend, and the last of his squad to die on Talahan. He was killed when a timed grenade was cooked off and tossed into the bunker. He suffered a slow, painful death through shrapnel wounds. His last man, Private First Class Jeff Winston was silent, watching the road for any hostiles with his SRS 127-AM sniper rifle. Winston was the strong silent type, not speaking often until after he got his man.

Jeff was the second man to survive Talahan. The only problem was when he was assigned to the _Keyes_, a destroyer, the ship vanished, no trace, no crew. The Covenant was suspected but the investigation was closed after a month and a half of study. "Sniper. Banyan tree, around a hundred fifty yards northeast." "_Get down, everyone_!" The Sergeant Major hissed into his COM radio. Around sixty Marines hit the dirt wondering when it would be safe to move. A muffled _crack_ came from Winston's rifle, a screech, and a thud. The sniper was dead. "Stay down, everyone. His friend's coming to investigate." Winston whispered. Another sniper ran to the noise. "_Camilo! Respende! Hey Camilo! Respende ton situation, plesé!_ _Camilo?_" _crack_. Another body dropped. "Forward area clear. Advance guard neutralized." "_Good shot, Private_." Benedict said. "At the rate these guys are falling, we should capture that fortress in no time!" Dean said to Chris. "You've got that right, Dean-o." Vennettilli said sighting straight ahead. "You need to wake up, human." Dean suddenly said. "Excuse me? What?"

"Get up human. Open your eyes!"

Chris jolted awake. The outside was dark. Stars twinkled in the sky and a lone Pelican dropship was making her rounds to the _Indomitable_ in orbit. Sitting at the foot of his bed was a shadow. _Shadow_. He immediately opened his mouth to call for help, but Shadow sped over and clapped his hand over the LT's mouth. "I'm going to talk quick. As a matter of fact, you're coming with me. We're going to have a talk somewhere we won't be bothered."

A flash of light, and then he was in a forest. Moonlight filtered through the trees casting white on the grass. Chris was standing in his leisure clothes, what he was wearing in the bed. "Where are we?" He suddenly asked. "The Great Forest." Shadow responded. "Don't bother running. We're over fifty miles from where Fort Acorn once stood. If you try, you'll die of starvation, never mind the insanity." Chris took another look around, and sighed. He was on his own. He found a tree trunk to sit on. "OK, what's the deal? What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk to you, human. I want to see how you're holding up after our little engagement. No broken bones, I trust?" "Well, my humerus was broken if that's what you want to know. It's fixed now." Shadow nodded. "I guess you also got the emergency blood transfusion in time otherwise you would have bled out." "You are correct again. Have you considered a career in the Office of Naval Intelligence? You're as smart as those spooks. You'd fit right in." "I appreciate the gesture, human. You know not many of your kind could take me on. I base this on Overlanders I have met. Their battle armor doesn't help them much." Chris laughed. "You'd be in for a surprise if you went up against our SPARTANs." Shadow smiled toothily. "I count on it."

He then looked to the moon. "Do you know, Lieutenant, why I am not comfortable around humans?" "Indulge me. Someone took your cookie?" he chuckled at his own joke. Shadow didn't even smile. "Her name was Maria." _Oh boy, here it comes, classic love story_. "Maria Kintobor." That made Chris look up. "Excuse me?"

"Fifty years ago, the Overlanders launched a massive assault on the ARK. They planed to use me as a _weapon_. Several teams boarded at strategic locations and killed many researchers who didn't go down. I tried to get her to escape, but…they shot her. All I could remember was the pool of blood that was forming around her, then she let me go, falling in the emergency capsule."

I was amnesic for the next half century, barely remembering who I was, except for that image. It was painful for me." He then said. "But I recently got closure on it. This is why I don't regularly trust people like you…" _He's hiding something. He's not going into it. Don't press him, C. It won't do any good for you_. "…I am still willing to…are you listening to me?" Chris nodded and lied. "Yeah, go on. I'm listening." "Right, as I said I am still willing to offer you a chance to destroy the doctor, or foil his plans." "How do you plan on doing that? After you attacked me, I wasn't sure you'd _ever_ come back to us again." Chris asked standing up. Pain lanced through his arm. Not quite healed…

"That video I showed you represents a large factory. I don't know its precise location but I do believe I know its coordinates." Shadow reached into his pocket and produced a small sticky-note. "It's mobile so it doesn't stay in place for very long. It's also very, very large." "How could he have built this thing in such a short time?" Chris asked. "I don't know, he never told me. My guess is that he's been saving this thing for a _long_ time. Years, decades maybe. The thing is though, those ships are being infused with artificial Chaos Energy, spliced from both the Earth Emeralds and the Mobius Emeralds. I don't know if he used any others. Those ships take off and cross the warpgate, the UNSC fleet won't stand a chance." He passed the paper over to Chris. The Lieutenant accepted this and unraveled it. **39°9′39″N****119°45′14″W**﻿ **/ **﻿. Chris said, "But where does this place it?" "Just hand it to your commanding officer. He'll know what to do. My time's running out. The doctor does half hour checks. Take my hand." "Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" "Just take my DAMN hand!" Shadow barked. Chris obeyed and Shadow bellowed, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

At once the world turned photonegative and he was back in the hospital. Immediately he ran to cover himself in the bed and reattach the EKG which somehow was kept running. Chris wondered about the temporal implications of Chaos teleportation. Just thinking about it made him nauseous. He also gritted his teeth as he reattached his IV. He still grasped the paper in his hand. Silently, he slipped the paper into his pocket. In the morning he'd report to Andsworth and give him the coordinates. He'd call in every single UNSC ship in space and bring down the "fire and brimstone" as he liked to call it. Chris looked at the edge of his bunk. "Shadow? Thanks…for the help." There was no response. The room was empty. Chris exhaled. "Fine, play it the hard way." He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

In the morning Quack discharged him. He dressed in his utility uniform and his fidel cap and set off in a brisk pace down the castle's halls. The temperature was well over eighty today so he rolled up his sleeves. That felt good. Technically non-regulation though Andsworth may have sympathy over the warm weather. He also patted his Desert Eagle now holstered at his waist. He wasn't going to let his baby slip away from him again.

He rounded a corner and nearly bumped into Sonic and Sally. He realized that they were embraced and kissing. "Ah. Wrong corner." He said awkwardly. "Oh, Lieutenant!" Sally said breaking away. "Um…I see they let you out." Sonic exhaled. "Can't you see we're busy? What is it?" Chris stammered. While Sonic was ranked lower than he was, he was part of the Freedom Fighters which operated outside the normal chain of command. He had, by regulation, knuckle under. "I received a very interesting nighttime visit. It appears our old friend Shadow showed up." Sally chastised him. "You didn't call security!?" She hissed. "You didn't like, shoot him or _something_?"

"A Sally, my gun was taken away to a locker. B, He just wanted to talk." "Talk?" Sonic said unbelieving. "That's not normally the way Shadow operates." "Well today he made a small change. He…what the hell was it, when he transports you?" "Chaos Control?" Sonic asked leaning on the wall. "Yeah, he uses Chaos Energy to rip a hole in space-time, and transport you instantly across a distance. I think you can compare it to Slipspace." "Really? That's interesting." They went off on a tangent. He needed to get back on track.

"Anyway, I was Chaos Control'd away from the Castle into the forest. We had a talk about how he still wanted to help us defeat Eggman. He gave me these coordinates. I think they're Earth coordinates, according to the writing style. Sorry, _Mobian_ coordinates." "Same difference." Sally said. "Let's see them." Chris reached into his pants pocket to pull out the slip of paper. "He said that the factory was mobile and that this would be its next predicted spot." She looked at it. "We have to get this to my father and Andsworth! Come on!" She said. She took the lead. Sonic ran behind her. "Sonic, no fancy stuff this is serious!" She said. Sonic groaned and slowed himself down.

They took an elevator down to Ops. A few Marines were in their way. "Clear out!" The Lieutenant ordered. At once the humans cluttered to the side. "Hey, Loot. What the fuck is going on?" One asked. "Emergency! Get ready in case the order comes!" "Order for what?" "Combat!" He smiled. "Alright, now we're talking! Let's go Marines; we're getting back in the fight!" They roared approval and jogged off.

Ops was filled with Naval personnel. Many humans cluttered around computers as they looked at screens of space. A trio of UNSC frigates came through the gate, the _Anaheim_, _Yuri Gagarin_, and the _Ganymede_. They broadcasted FOF tags and moved into a good spot to park. "Where's my father?" She asked a crewman who was checking the monitors. "Uh…In…In his office." He stammered. "Is Andsworth with him?" "Yeah, yeah he is." "Let's go!" Sally said. Chris and Sonic turned around following her.

The castle was huge. Sally led them up a huge, curling flight of stairs which would bring them to the keep, a section where the King and Queen reside in case of an impending attack. As far as Sally knew, her mother had taken a diplomatic mission to Earth to discuss the effects of the Alliance with the UN and smaller groups such as The United Federation in North America and the European Union. She burst through the door. "Dad!"

"Sally!" Max said standing from behind his desk. He noticed Chris standing behind her. "Is this important?" "Max, whenever anybody bursts through a door like that, it's trouble." Gerome Andsworth said looking out a window. "The _Gagarin_ is going to land first. I need to talk to Commander Harper. Whatever you need to say spit it out, Lieutenant." "Actually sir, I want to tell it to my father." Sally said, countering the order. "Dad, Chris was visited by Shadow. He gave him a slip of paper." He handed the paper to the King. "They're coordinates." He said "What for?" Chris cleared his throat. "Apparently, according to Shadow, they're for a mobile factory. Robotnik's using it to create warships infused with Chaos Energy."

Gerome took the paper. "Are you sure about this?" Chris bit his lip. Would he trust Shadow, the man he fought, and lost to? He could have had a grudge against him, and all of humanity, despite the fact that they had no connection to Maria's death. His gut told him to answer. "Yes. I am positive." Andsworth nodded. Using his Command Neural Interface, he contacted the _Indomitable_. "Lieutenant Velo, do you read?" "_Five by five, Admiral. Orders, sir_?" Velo said high above Mobius "Tell Commander Harper to pull back to LEO and sand by for orders. Things just got interesting. Out." ﻿ / 39.16083; -119.75389


	21. Chapter 21: Search and Destroy

Chapter 21: Search and Destroy

June 29th, 3234, 1121 hours

Castle Acorn

Mobius

Vice Admiral Andsworth walked down the hallways of the castle leading to Ops. He had just instructed his men to abruptly force Commander Harper's group to disengage their landing on Mobius and retreat to Low Orbit. He palmed the biometric scanner on the door leading to Ops. It glowed green and he walked in. "You think Harper will be angry we ordered him to pull back?" King Max said behind him. "He might, but what's _he_ going to do about it? I am the highest ranking naval officer on this planet and anywhere within the vicinity of 600,000 kilometers."

He walked over to a COM station. A dark skinned human with the name 'Al Fulani' stitched into her uniform tapped several commands to UNSC garrisons that were being sent all over the planet. A single golden bar was on her shoulder. "Excuse me, Ensign." He said. Al Fulani looked over her shoulder and stood to. She snapped a quick salute. "Good morning sir." She said in a lightly accented voice. "What can I do for you?" Andsworth said, "You can try to raise the _Yuri Gagarin_ on the COM. I need to speak with Commander Harper."

Al Fulani nodded and sat back down. She tapped in a computer command and put on headphones. "UNSC _Yuri Gagarin_, this is Castle Acorn. Do you copy?" A slight mumbling was heard in the headphones. Max's ears twitched as he picked up the noise. "This is Ensign Al Fulani of Ops. Vice Admiral Andsworth requests a conversation with Commander Harper." A few seconds later, the Ensign said, "You're good. He requests an Audio/Video conference though." Gerome nodded. "Bring him up." She said, "Yes sir. Stand by for picture."

Commander Chester Harper appeared on the screen. A man of forty-five who sported an amazing scar on his left cheek sat in the command chair slightly annoyed. "_Admiral? I'd like to know why I was requested to pull my ships back into orbit. Lieutenant-Commanders Calucci and Patterson are _not_ pleased with this jurisdiction_." "I am afraid they have no choice, Commander. I am the ranking officer here. When I give an order, I expect you to obey." Harper snarled slightly, but then recomposed himself. "Commander I apologize if I deprived you of a sightseeing adventure, but this is serious." "_Oh really? Do tell, my entire crew is listening_."

Andsworh frowned behind his moustache. He _really_ didn't like the ire that was in Harper's voice. "I trust you've heard of Doctor Julian Kintobor?" Harper leaned back and relaxed slightly. "_Yeah. When Her Highness landed on Earth that was the first thing she brought up_." "Well, we recently received Intel that he is amassing a large fleet through a mobile factory." Harper nodded. Mobile factories were quite common in UNSC Inner and Core Worlds. These ranged from space platforms which essentially were factories with engines, floating boat-like factories, rare flying factories to the even more rare mobile land factories. "_Do you know which one he's using, sir_?" "No clue, but according to the information that was supplied to us, we have to take a stab at the possibility of a flying factory. He's used air and space combat very much thus far. Harper nodded. "_I see. Do you know where the factory's going to be, sir_?" Andwsworth shrugged. "It could be anywhere as of now. Although we have a clue." He passed the slip of paper to Al Fulani. "Upload this." He ordered her.

The mysterious coordinates appeared on Harper's screen. He mouthed out the numbers as they appeared. "_These put it…hang on…_" He consulted his NAV officer and asked him to bring up a map of Earth. "_…this puts it over Carson City, Nevada_._ On Earth, it's a city of a few hundred thousand. Here, I'd assume that it's just an empty desert_."

Max turned to a crewman named Daniels and asked. "Bring up the satellite image of Mobius. Real time, if you please." Daniels nodded. "Yes sir, on it sir." A blue ball appeared. It was Mobius. It was being observed by a STARS satellite usually used for tactical purposes. The STARS satellite was as big as a baseball but it had the operating capacity of a supercomputer. The image zoomed in on the coordinates and all they saw was barren sand, but a small pool of water surrounded by green: A desert oasis. "Nothing there, your highness." Daniels reported looking over his shoulder. Max wasn't about to give up yet. "Zoom out, crewman. Keep pulling back until I tell you."

The image went out farther and the land became less detailed. By the time the lower cloud layer was visible, Max saw it. "Stop! Focus on the object in the top left corner!" Daniels nodded and scrolled the image with his mouse. He zoomed in on the object.

It was huge, larger than the Egg Cruiser, larger than the _Indomitable_, larger than anything they had ever seen. A 10 kilometer long blue whale glided over the land. It was painted in the usual red, yellow and black of Doctor Robotnik. Drive emissions were barely visible which suggested that if she was indeed moving, it was at a snail pace. "Got him." King Max said. Andsworth walked over. "Good Lord. How large is that thing?" Daniels factored in the numbers. He winced as he said the answer. "Ten kilometers, longer than the _Indomitable_…or _anything_ we have in the fleet!" "Go to thermal vision." Andsworth said. "A ship that size _has _to be hiding something." The STARS probe shifted filters and showed them something that sent shivers down all of their spines.

The engines themselves pulsed bright red, indicating lots of heat output. There was dark purple on the surrounding hull but near the center, _hundreds_ of tiny red flares showed. "Holy Shit." Daniels said in shock. Those words sounded 110 percent accurate to Gerome. This giant ship was building a whole fleet of smaller ships. If he decided to attack Earth, there wouldn't be enough time to gather all the fleet's vessels to defend them. They would be decimated. No, _eradicated_.

"You know what we have to do, Harper." Andsworth said sitting in a free chair and pushing his fingertips together. "_With all due respect, admiral, that's out of the question._" "Oh? Why is that?" Harper huffed in amusement. "_Do the math, sir. Three frigates plus a supercarrier against all of those ships seems like a suicide run_." "You have my ships…" Max said in a low voice. "_Your highness, your ships_-" "Stop talking right now!" Max said looking straight at the stunned Commander. "Mr. Harper, my ships are crewed by the best men and women that I have _personally_ met. I am proud to have them watching over my skies. They may not be much compared to you, but they will fight until the last man stops breathing. Is that clear, _Commander_!?" Harper gulped, which was audible over the COM. "_I may have been a bit out of line_." "It appears so." Max said deathly even-toned.

"_Uh…how are we going to attack this thing then? As I indicated earlier we are no match for it. If you get close, it's sure to spot you. A million ton starship is something you don't tend to miss._" "You likewise have no chance." Max pointed out. "Three frigates would be like trying to kill a giant with a needle." Andsworth had an idea. "But even a giant can fall from even the smallest force." "Are you suggesting-" "Yes and no. I'll get back to you, Commander." "_Yes sir._" The screen blanked.

"Give me the basic outline for the ship." Andsworth ordered a vulpine crewman. She nodded and turned to the holographic projector, a jury-rigged holotank surrounded by a fancy body. It had been constructed on short notice but she served her purpose well. A rough image of the monster factory appeared hovering a foot over the projector. It rotated slightly as they observed it. "You see this?" Andsworth said pointing to a coning spire near the back of the ship. "What's that? COM dish?" Max asked. "Precisely. Eggman thinks he's king of the world with this thing. Why would he bother to try and keep his vital communication systems on the _inside_ of his ship?"

"I see! We land ODSTs on the top of the ship; disable the COMs and Radar so we can send in a larger force!" "Excellent thinking, Max! I believe Commander Harper or one of his associates wouldn't mind hot dropping some vehicles or additional forces one we shut down his communications?"

"I think he won't mind. Do you think she'll be cloaked?" "Doubt it. Even if he did manage to cloak this ship, trying to keep a ten klick long mobile factory hidden would be way too tough. Too much thermals and raw noise." Max smiled. "Makes our job easier."

Andsworth brought up the topographical map of the area. He highlighted the factory's position and predicted the flight path. "Admiral Andsworth, would you like me to calculate the approximate orbital interception of the SOEIVs?" A voice said. The voice came from the _Indomitable_'s liaison Artificial Intelligence, Helena. She appeared hovering over the holographic topographical map with arms behind her back. She chose the appearance of a smart businesswoman with a skirt down to her knees and a black coat. Her hair was done up in a neat bun and she wore black horn-rimmed glasses. Andsworth always enjoyed a quick giggle at her glasses as they looked ridiculous on her.

"That would be most welcome, Helena. Please share your calculations, and please simplify." "Absolutely, Admiral." The AI said pushing the glasses up her holographic nose. A brief flash of code appeared going through the lenses and the map pulled out. It went to an altitude of around a hundred miles above the surface. The parabola of land that was represented was a sandy brown stretch with a large storm forming over the mountains. Little of that water would reach the desert itself. "Course laid out." Helena announced.

"A holographic battle group of the _Indomitable_, _Ganymede_, _Anaheim_, and the _Yuri Gagarin_ launched tiny HEVs, all launched at 0932 hours on July 1st. The pods all landed aft of a massive control tower. "Probability of detection, 56%. I can decrease that to thirty-two if we approach it from behind." "Do it." Andsworth said. "Working on it, sir. New course laid in." The battle group approached from behind and launched the pods at a sharper angle but the detection probability seemed much slower."

"Can we bring that even lower?" Max asked placing his hand to his jaw. "I have a theory." "Please explain." "If we could send some drones ahead on autopilot, we can cause Eggman to attack those, and break his attention. While that's going on, we can insert the Helljumpers onto the stern and begin our assault as soon as the COM unit is disabled. I recommend armored fighting units." "Noted Helena. What's with the whole July 1st business?" "A strong storm is heading this way. Our current drop angle would take us right through it. My calculations show that wind speeds will peak over fifty miles an hour, more than enough to knock the SOEIVs off course. I can't correct the courses of all of them, Admiral."

Andsworth looked at the map. "So you want to move in from another angle." "Correct Admiral." The AI said nodding. "Primarily from this angle." The flight path changed. "Using our maneuvering thrusters, we can get there. If we use our main engines we will be located. The thermosphere masks our signatures otherwise." Max nodded. "She has a point Gerome." "OK, let's do this." Helena nodded and pushed her glasses up. "Yes sir. Countdown timer engaged." A forty-eight hour timer engaged, ticking down. "I'll garrison all ODSTs on the _Anaheim _and the _Ganymede_. The _Yuri Gagarin_ will be acting as our air drop vessel. Inventory shows that she is carrying a squad of Mechs, all Medium tonnage class." Gerome smiled. "Gentlemen, the Doctor has no idea what is about to hit him."

Chris accepted a letter from a passing Corporal. The young man had reported to Chris in the Great Hall. He was providing security detail for her Highness, but was dressed in civilian clothing. Chris didn't feel very comfortable in the T-shirt and jeans. He needed to get out more. "Thanks, Corporal." He said. The younger Marine saluted and walked away. He opened the letter and studied it. "What's up?" Sally asked looking over his shoulder. "We have new orders. Come on, we need to find the guys."

About half an hour later, Chris was back in fatigues. They had found the rest of the Freedom Fighters and assembled them in the briefing room. "We've been ordered on a major mission. We're going to assault Doctor Robotnik's mobile factory." "We're going in first?" Sonic asked, smiling in anticipation. "Surprisingly no." Chris said. "We're the secondary attack. A platoon of ODSTs will be dropping in first They'll take out the communications and sensors. We will report to Rally Point Alpha." Chris drew a rough map of the valley on a white board. A large wedge representing the factory. "When the ODSTs hit and we clear the area of any ground units, Pelicans will arrive and transport us to the deck."

Tails shot his hand up. The Lieutenant nodded and pointed to him. "Go ahead." "Chris, wouldn't it be easier to transport us to the deck directly?" "Under any other circumstances Tails, I would agree with you. However satellite photos show that there are some nasty anti-air guns. Think of it, those guns could still get us visually. If they take us out in the air coming directly, we will lose 33 men per craft. Better to lose an empty ship then a full one, agreed?" Tails nodded. It was an acceptable sacrifice. Better two or three men died rather than thirty-three. "When do we move out?" Knuckles asked. "Six hours. Our window is to complete the mission will be within seven. Let's move out people! I want you all geared up by 1600, let's go!"

It was Staff Sergeant Gordon H. Chan's finest hour. This was what he kept repeating to himself as he donned his ODST helmet and locked the seal. Gordon was fresh out of Camp Shi-Cho in native Hong Kong. He was Earth-Born Chinese but he had the strong desire to get out there and mix it up a little with the Corps. He was only in his late twenties and was energetic. What set him apart from the other Helljumpers was that he had a positive and humble demeanor. Other Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were tough, hostile and not one for advice.

His orders had been issued just yesterday. He was to lead his platoon from the _Ganymede_ and directly assault a mobile factory. That froze Chan in his boots, although Command had informed him that there would be other ODST platoons helping him, and he would receive some fire support from Mechs and regular Marines. Still, he couldn't shake the funny feeling that this may be the last time he leapt into hell.

Chan crossed the drop bay and looked for his pod. On it was scribbled the Mandarin characters for Strength, Resolve and Leadership. Gordon repeated the words in his head. He was deeply attached to his homeland and his culture. He needed to signify that he hadn't lost that culture. Around him, ODSTs found their pods and cracked vulgar jokes to each other. They loved this shit. They loved dropping from a spaceship travelling from God-knows-how-fast speeds. He didn't feel that he fit in...yet.

Chan leaned against the padded side of the SOEIV. He leaned his head on the headrest and exhaled. There would be no going back now. The _Ganemyde_ had spent the last forty-eight hours maneuvering on chemical thrusters alone to get into a better position. The ship's AI, some snob named Wesley explained with a British accent that the winds would buffet the pods at upwards of sixty miles an hour. Even though the pods had thrusters and retro rockets, a minor course change could affect their overall trajectory in the long run.

The pod's door slammed shut in front of him, and a small hiss notified Chan that the seal would be air tight. The explosive bolts attached to the door would blow out at his discretion as soon as he touched dirt...erm...metal. He tapped the side of his helmet to bring up TEAMCOM. Over the line, 29 other Helljumpers were awaiting his message. "All pods operating status." He groaned. Standard operating procedure, yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. In the section of his HUD titled 'SQUAD', he saw 29 bright green lights that showed that each SOEIV would get them into the atmosphere. "Good luck gentlemen. As soon as we hit planet-side, I expect everyone to regroup at my location." Again, acknowledgement lights winked to signify that the ODSTs got the message. "_Attention. Launch commencing. Please clear the area for depressurization._" Wesley said over the COM. A red light appeared over the drop bay door. This signified that the drop bay was locked and there was no risk of decompression. "Prepare to drop, Helljumpers!" Chan roared over the channel with fiery enthusiasm. "_OOHRAH!_" came 29 equally enthusiastic responses. A metallic _clack_ echoed through the pod and right away Chan knew he was in freefall.

The SOEIV (Single Occupant Exo-Atmospheric Insertion Vehicle) sometimes called Human Entry Vehicle for short, rumbled through the bowels of the _Ganymede_. The ship's own artificial gravity aided their drop and then came the mass of Mobius itself. The pods streaked across the inky dark of space. Once the pods hit the exosphere however, the subtle orange glow of atmospheric reentry began to form around the noses of the pods. "Check in people. Any problems?" All negative. This was going to be a smooth ride. He could see from the window that other ODSTs from the _Anehiem_ and _Yuri Gagarin_ had joined them. He dare not switch into their channel otherwise Eggman might pick them up. If he stuck to his narrow beam private COM, and then they would go undetected.

The orange-red glow gave way to streaking clouds. The storm they narrowly missed swirled about some thousand feet from them. Gordon did get some slushy droplets on his windshield, just as the superfast acceleration made it streak away. "Beautiful, ain't it boys?" an ODST said as a bolt of lightning lashed out.

Gordon _did_ think that the lightning was pretty. Due to climate change on Earth, some of the monsoons that plagued Hong Kong have intensified and respectively died down. He got to see marvelous storms, and the not so marvelous amount of rain that came afterwards. Sunlight crept into the SOEIV as they got lower. Desert sands became visible with some green visible in the shadow of the giant mountains. It was almost completely empty. Almost because of the giant wedge shaped floating factory that was menacing over the land. Gordon checked his computer. They were heading right where they were supposed to, taking the factory's momentum into account. There was a _pop_ as the braking chute deployed, drastically slowing his descent. When that ripped away, the pods' retro rockets took over. The pod slowed down even more so that Chan wouldn't be killed on impact.

The altimeter glowed green, and then tinged to red. His pod still kept course at just above two hundred KPH. "Alright gentlemen, this is it! Brace for impact!" Green acknowledgement lights winked on as the pods ploughed into the metal. "Go, go, _GO!_" Chan barked as the pod door blasted away. He drew his assault rifle and scanned the deck. All of his Helljumpers landed in a rough hundred yard spread. He was in a shadow. Gordon looked up and found he was in the shadow of a giant command tower. "Wow, great landing." One of the Helljumpers remarked looking at the tower." "There's time for sightseeing later, Marines! Let's go!" "Yes sir!" They replied.

It was a little windy up here on the deck. According to Gordon's altimeter, they were roughly two and a half miles above the ground. The rubber soles of their boots could hold them in place, but one good gust could know an ODST to his feet and that might cost him his life.

"Sergeant! Eyes on! Got a hostile roughly a hundred yards ahead!" His sniper said. Goron hit his binoculars and sighted on the target. A robot was pacing the deck. Two more emerged from an access hatch. "Looks like scouts." Chan deduced. "Everyone find a spot to hide. O'Leary, take them down. You feel confident?" "Hell yes, sir."

The ODSTs hid behind whatever would conceal them. O'Leary went prone on the deck and sighted his SRS82F-AM sniper rifle. He breathed deeply and pulled the trigger. One 114x51mm APFSDS round cracked from the barrel and sped at over 1400 feet per second into the lead robot. It punctured its left eye and caused it to spin, trailing fluid and oil. At once, the others snapped to and before they could call it in, _crack, crack_! Two more metal bodies hit the deck. O'Leary did a quick scan and held the thumbs-up.

Chan got back to his feet and ordered them to the robots. "Masterson, strip them of any COM gear and get to work cracking into their communications grid. Edwards, Ubuntu, get rid of the bodies and someone clean these goddamn smudges! No trace people!" O'Leary picked up his three hot shell casings. He stuffed them into his duffel. He was never there. Likeweise, Edwards and Ubuntu carried the robots to the edge of the factory, which they landed near and tossed them overboard. They watched until the bodies were clouds of dust in the sands. Masterson picked up the radio and looked it over. "Sarge, this won't be easy. I've never seen this model before." Chan nodded though. "Don't worry. You have some time." A waypoint activated. "_Sergeant Chan, this is Sergeant Jonathan Callard. My men have landed but we are running into resistance. Scouts mainly_." "Copy that Callard. We are likewise running into scouts. We dealt with them though." "_Roger that. We need a way inside though. How about the doors that they came through?_" "That may work. They may have security locks though. We'll deal with it though. Chan out."

The doors were roughly rectangular in shape going ten feet into the air. Gordon supposed that this was where some vehicles came through. He couldn't imagine these…berserkers charging them since they needed an additional five feet in height. A red light pulsed on the door. Damn. That meant that it was locked. "Corporal Stanley. Come forward." He called up the tech specialist. "Yes sir?" The young ODST asked. "Hack the door." "Yes sir." He nodded getting to one foot. Stanley took a spoofer out of his pack. The rest of the platoon provided cover from other positions. The spoofer ran through thousands of possible combinations, code-phrases, and references until it found a match. Suddenly the door pinged and the light turned green. Bingo.

The door silently slid open. It was a fairly dark maintenance corridor. "VISRs on, people. No flashlights, and for God's sake, stay out of camera visual ranges." With that, the soldiers slunk through the shadows, watching every corridor under threat of attack. Their weapons didn't have flashlight attachments so they used their VISRs, which stood for Visual Information System, Reconnisance. The hallway shone a bright red because of the paint. Suddenly, Gordon told his men to stay still. "What's going on, Sarge?" O'Leary asked. "Camera." Chan hissed, nodding in the direction of the machine. Above a door, there was a boxy security camera, a tiny light blinking slowly to show that she was operational." "Looks like it covers the entire hall. I don't see a way around it." Masterson reported. "Maybe we should find a way around?" "Negative, Private. Something's telling me we're supposed to go through. Fry it." Masterson nodded.

He stepped forward and got on one knee. He pulled out his M6 and slid what looked like a laser sight on the bottom. He pointed it to the camera and pressed a small button on its side. At once, the camera sputtered and fell immobile. "Nice job, Henry!" "Yeah, yeah. Fifteen seconds, guys! Let's go!" The Marines booked it across the hall, running their fastest. The last of the ODSTs crossed the doorway with barely a moment to spare. The camera hummed, fans swirled and it resumed its sweeping pattern. "Will they be worried about the lag?" Chan asked. O'Leary laughed. "I doubt it, boss. They'll probably think that this was a low threat electrical malfuntion. Worst case scenario, they send a repair robot out for it." One of the ODSTs glanced down the hall. "You sure that there's nothing here?" "I already did a sweep man. The only thing in this hallway are the walls, comprised of Titanium-50, Aluminum-72, and Carbon-10, and then there's us." Chan exhaled silently. "Glad to be relieved. Let's go." The soldiers walked down the darker halway that seemed to slope into the ship. For several minutes this was the case, and then there was a tram station. "Check it." Chan ordered. Two ODSTs pried open the doors and checked. One of them squeezed a round from a silenced assault rifle. There was a muffled _pshew_ as the bullet fired and immedietely after, a _clang_. The Sergeant looked in and saw a dead robot, shot once through the face. "Tram clear, Sergeant!" One of them reported. "Pile in gentlemen!"

The ODSTs stepped onto the tram. It was quite large, the size of a very small ferry. "Where does this contraption go?" Stanley asked. Stanley ran a datapad over the controls and tapped a few commands. A holographic view of the ship came up. "According to the map, we go to the Atrium Antechamber B. That puts us...three hundred meters from the objective." Chan nodded and said, "I'll take those cards. Shove us off. The Marines are waiting for us here!" Stanley tapped in the controls. There was a metallic lurching as the tram began her journey. "ETA to the next station is three minutes."

As the tram coasted away, the ODSTs felt that they were safe, unwatched, and above all, completely hidden from view. This was as far away from the truth as could possibly be. What Corporal Stanley or Masterson failed to uncover were sonar detection devices that were implanted in the walls. Usually they would have found something like this but Robotnik saw this coming. He had purposely let down his guard. True he didn't know that they landed on his ship until they stepped into his hallway. The ingenious part came in with the detectors themselves. They were nano-sized sonar devices implanted at regular intervals around the ship in corridors, access shafts, hell, even the pipelines. Being sonar, they could identify a "shadow" by bouncing sound waves off a target. Also, being sonar, the devices had to emit a noise, something that might otherwise give such a device away. Julian Kintobor was no idiot however. Because of the small size, the devices could emit small sounds, but thanks to the sheer number of them in the hallway, coupled with a "wave" activation pattern started every second, Robotnik could map out his enemies in near absolute silence. The only way the soldiers would notice them was if one of them were to kneel down and put his ear to the wall. From that distance, they _might_ be able to pick up the faintest of noises, provided their hearing was good.

Eggman sat at the top of the tower. In his cousioned command chair, he sipped a glass of fine Overlander Merlot, a relic of the war. It had aged well despite the ammount of trauma he suspected that it endured. The wine itself was superb, tickling his taste buds as it trickled down his throat. He had many such bottles in his private vinyard, which was accessable _only_ by him...not like he had very many allies to share it with. "Are you sure that they will come, my old friend?" Robotnik asked, glancing to his right. In a smaller, but elegant chair, a black hedgehog sat looking out the window, taking in the desert, and the stretching hull of the factory, small smokestacks belching smoke into the air. "I am sure. I gave them the correct co-ordinates. I am interested as to why they send a small force. I suppose that it's the Lieutenant. He was the only one I gave the location to." Eggman held up a finger to interrupt. "Ah, but wouldn't it be safe to assume that our friend may have _divulged_ the information to someone else?" "That would explain the larger force, yes." Shadow nodded.

"However, I am curious as to why I have not seen any ships lately." he added. Robotnik got up and glanced at the clouds. A deep sapphire stood above him. "They're up there. They're waiting for us. We can't see them though. The damned thermosphere is blocking their thermals. I have to look for them manually. _They_ on the other hand know good and well where we are. They can see **us** but we can't see **them**." He raised his glass to the sky, giving a silent, mocking toast to the man that he was certain was orchestrating the whole thing. "Your move, Admiral."

He downed the glass in one final drink. He then turned on his heel and made for his chair. There was work to be done.


	22. Chapter 22: Knock Knock

Chapter 22: Knock, Knock...

July 1st 3234,

The Great Desert, Mobius

Warthog Romeo-7

The sun was up in the sky and the heavens were colored a deep sapphire blue. It gave Chris a chance to take a good look at it. Due to his position as a Marine Corps officer, he had the oppertunity to visit many worlds and look at many skies around the galaxy. He just felt comfortable looking at space from his own rock, the same rock every man stared out into space from hoping to go where no man had gone before.

He was riding shotgun in a warthog Light Recon Vehicle (LRV). His driver was a man named Corporal Nigel Bishop, a British flag stitched on his right shoulder to signify his nationality.

"About fifteen miles to the DP Point, Leftenant!"

The young man nodded and pulled the cocking hammer on his assault rifle, making sure that his ammo counter read fully charged. In the back were Miles and Sally, Logistics and Sniper support, respectively. Her Highness was a crack shot when it came to nailing targets at long distance. Prower was a genius at hacking systems,. Coupled with Sal's personal computer, they would be able to break into even the toughest code-locked rooms. In Warthog Romeo-5, Kuckles and a squad of support marines sat waiting to go, they hung to the cage of the troop carrier attachment as they bounced over rocks and dried-out rivenes. Three other Warthogs were also in formation, a delta head pattern that cut through the desert just as Sprinters on Camilla did, similar to grounded Canadian Geese, which was why the maneuver was dubbed, the 'Sprinter Delta'.

Chris knew that all over the desert, similar teams were approaching key locations outlined by Helena's calculations. the AI had done millions of possibilities within mere seconds and fired them off to every team leader dirtside. The tradeoff was that this was a one-way signal, which meant if they had to alter course, so much as scratch an itch when it didn't correspond to orders, they wouldn't be able to recover.

The desert was scorching hot today of all days. The jeep's thermometer measured that the outside temperature was a fiery 109 degrees Fahrenhiet, He took off his cap to try and fan his face, little good that did him, as he only succeded in blowing _more_ hot air in his face. Being in shotgun, he recieved the full brunt of the desert air, which felt like someone was blowing a hair dryer on his face at max heat. The Warthog caught a small sink in the dunes and sprayed sand from the tires. Chris sputtered as the tiny burning rocks contacted with his skin.

"Hey we can't have _all_ the fun." A snide voice said from the back.

Chris didn't bother figuring out who it was.

"Eyes up people, we're clearing the ridge in thirty seconds! Watch out for that factory!"

the Lieutenant gripped his assault rifle and breathed deeply, waiting. The other Marines were ready likewise.

"Easy people." Sally said. "Don't try to squeeze off a shot. That'll be suicide. Just keep your heads and everything will be A-OK."

"_YES MA'AM!_" the soldiers crowed.

She smiled slightly as they acknowledged her as a superior, not a royal. A chance to be normal...so to speak.

Bishop gunned it a second longer and sent the warthog over the ridge. A bright flash of sunlight, and then they landed on the other side. They saw the factory floating in the air.

"SHIT!" Bishop said with his mouth agape.

The factory was much bigger than it was in the briefing video. A giant blue whale hovered a few miles above the ground but seemed all the more menacing.

"Just think." Sally said leaning over the bck of the hog. "Somewhere our boys are inside that monster."

Romeos 1,2,3,4 and 6 landed, each one expressing the same disbelief.

"Whoo!" another soldier said from a jeep.

Chris snapped out of it and accessed the TAC map on his PDA.

"OK, heads-up people! I'm reading a large garrison of enemy troops located three klicks away. I'm reading large signatures. That suggests those Berserker things."

He stood up. As the commanding officer he had to give them the lo-down.

"OK gentlemen! The big bad robots are waiting for us on the other hand! Intel says that we're not taking those LZs without a fight. Remember, circle-strafe the berserkers and attack from behind, minimum of three-man teams assault it. DO NOT attack with anything less than heavy weaponry. When we clear that plateau, we are to wait for Pelicans to stage the assault! Oorah?"

"_OOH-RAH_!"

He nodded as the men understood. Chris sat back down in his seat and ordered Bishop to continue down the pass, rock formations gave them whatever shade they could offer. Even then, it was high nineties in the shadows.

"Romeo-1, give me a status report." the Lieutenant ordered.

"_Smooth sailing so far, sir._" their scout said, who was bouncing all over the road. "_No sign of enemy activity_."

"Copy that Romeo-1. Keep on sweeping just in case you run into enemy activity."

"_Wilco, Lieutenant_. _Romeo-1 standing by for_-"

there was a sudden static and then an object intersected Romeo-1. There was a bright flash and flame shot into the air. Bishop yelped in surprise and yanked on the wheel. the LRV swerved to avoid a flying, flaming fender that was tossed clear of the explosion.

"_MORTAR ATTACK_!" one of the drivers screeched.

* * *

"ALL UNITS, ALL UNITS, FAN OUT! SCATTER! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Chris barked into his COM mike. The remaining warthogs broke ranks and rolled in all directions. Screeches sounded in the sky as more mortars fell. They knew the Marines were here. Romeo-6 was tossed into the air as a mortar struck under her front axel. The vehicle flipped twice in the air before thumping on the ground. Injured Marines clammered from the wreckage and ran for cover.

"SOMEBODY FIND THOSE GODDAMNED MORTARS!" Chris yelled into the mike.

"_This is Corporal Stevens! I can move my men around to look for those mortars!_" came a Marine's voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chris could see that it was one of the men who managed to survive Romeo-6's demise.

"Do it! We're running out of time, Marine!" he shifted his attention. "Romeo-2 and Romeo-5, on me!" Two warthogs fishtailed away from the main dogpile of troops and jeeps.

"_Copy, sir. What's our objective?_"

"We find any other mortar sites, we torch them."

"_I copy that_." Romeo-5's driver said.

"OK gentlemen, lock and load your weapons!" Sally said inserting a magazine into her assault rifle.

"Be ready to move just in case we get attacked." Sally's voice was dead even but in truth the princess was just as nervous as any other man was in the convoy.

"_Indirect fire incoming_!" Romeo-2 reported.

A faint screechning noise was heard. Bishop yanked the steering wheel to the right which brought them precariously close to a deep and steep rivene. An explosion detonated not even thirty feet awat which pestered the hog with shrapnel. The strikes became much more frequent.

"_They're getting nervous_." Knuckles said over the COM. "_They're starting to shell pretty quickly. We must be close to them._"

Suddenly a dull _whump_ came over them. when they heard that, they knew that they were right on top of those mortars.

"Fan out, search the area. Bishop, pull over under this cover. They won't see us here." the driver obliged and set the warthog to rest in a cave. The walls were too thick to collapse for quite some time.

"Romeo-2 and 5, park in this designated area." He dropped a NAV point on their location. Soon, four headlights came to the cave entrance. "Alright, let's move! Run fast, they may know that we're here. Sonic then ran through the cave entrance.

"Sorry I'm late." He said apologizing. "What are we doing?"

The marines ran from the cave to cover. About fifteen men dressed in desert camoflage stacked up on the nearest wall. The mortar fire sounded farther down the valley. The remaining hogs must have drawn away most of the shells. Chris felt guilty as he knew the rest of the men would have to fend for themselves. He then steeled himself. They were Marines, they'd pull through

. "What's your name, man?" Chris asked to the human next to him.

"Little, Joeseph. 5th Sniper Division."

"Yes you are!" Chris said looking the young Corporal over. He had a Draconian flag on his shoulder, signifying that he came from either Draco II, or Draco IV. Also, the 5th Sniper Division was notorious for their efficiency in combat, snipers have logged kills from more than 1.5 kilometers away.

"Little, I need you to scan the area, poke your head out for just a second to see if you can see those mortar emplacements!"

"Yes sir!" Little said. He crouched and crept away, keeping to whatever shadows there were.

Joeseph put his head above for a split second. He ducked quickly and took a small mirror from his backpack. he moved it over the ridge and angled it around.

"Looks clear. I'm moving up." Joe made his way to a couple of rocks that could mask his position just enough. He ran for cover and scanned the region.

The sniper rifle he was using had nearly its entire barrel replaced with a supressor. That and the fact that he was using subsonic ammunition, he would make as much noise as the firing pin hitting the primer, maybe even less. he racked the bolt and sent a round into the chamber. "Scanning region." A few seconds later, he reported, "Sir, I see three separate teams, located one after the other. I think I see triple A emplacements about...two klicks distant, North-Northeast."

"_Copy that, Little. We need to neutrilize those mortars. Priority one. How good are you with that sniper rifle?_"

"Damn good, sir."

"_Alright. Fire when ready_."

Joe sighted the gun. The barrel jostled slightly as he moved the weapon around. He sighted on the farthest team. They were just starting to put the shell into the artillery. He exhaled, purging as much air from his lungs as he could. Just as they slipped the explosive down the tube, he pulled the trigger. The already quiet _phip_ was masked by the dull _whump_ of the shell. Two bullets spat from the gun. They slowly arced downwards because of their subsonic speed and intercepted the gunners. Before the report even cleared, one mortar team was down for the count. Two dead robots lay on the sand, the fluids they bled soaked into the sand.

"One down, sir."

"_Copy. Good job. Deal with the remainig two_."

Joe made a mental note that the robots seemed to be launching their shells seemingly in unison. He deduced that they were operating on a synchronization protocol. Using this, he planned out his next attack.

He sighted the sniper rifle and aimed at the second farthest mortar team. Squeezing the trigger, the first slug buried itself in the first robot's face. Before the second could react, it was already on the ground. He slipped in more cartridges and pulled the charging lever. He sighted again and shot. The first bullet impacted but poduced a very disappointing ricochet. The bullet whined as it glanced off the robot's armor. The assistant wheeled around at the noise and looked at where Joe was hiding. Little countered by blowing half it's head apart

. "Lieutenant, I've taken out the gunners."

"_Good job!_"

"I think one of them saw me though. He may have reported me already."

"_Shit...that's a little bit discouraging. Alright Little, come back, and we'll try to nail that triple A._"

Joe nodded and got up running. He sprinted down the incline and rejoined the squad who was watching the 'road'.

"Nice to see you coming back in one piece, Corporal Little." Chris said nodding. The radio crackled.

"_LT? Are you there, over_?" It was Corporal Stevens. Maybe he had some good news.

"Go ahead, Marine."

"_We've encounterede two other mortar teams. They know we're here sir. I think we've cleared them all out, sir._"

"I copy that, Stevens. Be advised, there is active triple A in the area, regroup at this location." he dropped a NAV point on their location.

"_Copy, Lieutenant. I'll be there in ten minutes._"

"Wait, how are Romeo-3, 4, and 6?" "_I saw Romeo-3 and 4 are still rolling. I think Romeo-6 ate it._"

Chris cursed. There went five more men. "Tell them to take a breather, we're done for now, but be quick about it. They may be coming to look for these mortar teams soon. Overout." he shut the COM off. "Did you get a good look at the Anti-Air cannon?" Chris asked.

"Only a bit. There were two of them over looking the cliff." Sally shook her head. "Something's wrong.. There shouldn't have been any enemies here. It was supposed to be a milk run. Drive in, secure an LZ, and get picked up. Intel didn't say _anything_ about enemy forces and they sure as _hell_ said _nothing_ about AA towers!"

"Intel, wrong?" Knuckles said leaning on the hog's hood. "That's unbelievable!" He said in mock concern.

"Come on, people! Let's get ready to move. Leave the hogs here, we're hiking the rest of the way."

There was a resounding "Yes sir!" from the soldiers as they got ready to go. There were three sandy figures on the hill.

"_LT, you should be seeing us now_." The leader wearing a ball cap waved his hand.

"Yup, I see you guys." Chris said into the mike.

"We lost a man getting back here." Stevens reported when he was close enough.

"But did you manage to destroy the mortars?"

"Yeah, both of them."

The LT nodded. "OK, we can't worry about that now. That AA gun is our next objective. We're hiking for the next two KMs. Any objections?"

"_NO, SIR_!"

"That's what I like to hear! Marines, move out!"

* * *

The factory was still superimposing over the desert an hour and a half later. Nearly 20 men fanned out in a packed delta formation. Three man teams moved in an arrowhead, scanning the horizon for any sign of hostile activity. Chris was on point with Sal and Knuckles. Sonic was functioning as Advance Recon. The human was very careful to exploit this ability as it would probably be useful.

"Check in, Speedy." Chris ordered.

Sonic vaulted over a rock wall. He braced his knees to absorb the impact. He rolled and got to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm breathing."

"_Focus, hedgy. What do you see_?"

He took a look around. "I see...that big gun. It's about three stories high and is drawing power from a self-contained battery."

"_Any enemies_?"

"Negative, sir, er...wait one...I've got an enemy, one tank." On the other side of the COM, Chris gulped. A tank was trouble. _Big_ trouble. On foot, if they didn't play their cards right, it would most likely tear them apart. "What do we do?" Sonic asked.

"_The only thing we can do, outsmart it. Come back here and we'll cook up a plan._" Sonic shut off the COM and started back. He arrived there twenty seconds later and got on one knee with the rest of them.

"Sonic, could you draw out the basic area of the place you watched? Just a rough shape." He handed Sonic his knife.

Sonic flipped it over so he was holding it blade-down. He spent a few seconds drawing the clearing as best he could, and marking the AA gun's location with an 'X'.

"The tank was on patrol. A pretty normal back and forth routine. Covers the entire opening."

"Are you sure that was the only one?" Sally asked.

"That I saw." Sonic admitted.

Sally groaned. "Keep your eyes open, just in case."

everyone nodded.

The tank was a monster weighing in around 70 tons, even heavier than the Scorpion MBTs that the UNSC employed in their ranks. Most of this extra weight came from the large bore cannon which fired a slug of Depleted Uranium-Tungsten measuring 108mm. On foot, this was a sure fire suicide run. Infantry did not usually win ground engagements with tanks, even with superior numbers, these vehicles had to absorb a lot of fire before dying. They had one ace in the hole though: The Freedom Fighters.

To kick things off, they took some of their grenades and set them to activate by proxamity. They placed them just up the pass where they would try to lure the tank into. Secondly, Chris ordered the Freedom Fighters to get into position by climbing up a ridge and waiting for their signal. When the tank reached the Marines' position, the grenades would go off, confusing it. They would then ambush it, preferably with detpacks. When Chris fired a three-round burst into the air, Sally would lead the guys in a free-rappel down the side of the ridge behind the tank. From there they would make their way to the AA guns and rig C-9 explosive putty composition onto the legs supporting the gun. "You strap it to the gun and blow them, they'll fall straight to the bottom if the canyon." Sally raised her hand.

"Yes, Higness?"

"Why can't Sonic just carry the charges in?"

Chris' answer came levelly. "Because Speedy Gonzales has no training in explosive ordinance and is more likely to blow _himself_ up than the guns."

Sonic started to protest but then said shrugging, "Fair enough."

"...that honor will go to Knuckles." He pointed to the echidna who patted a C-9 pack on his torso. "Once we fire the first shot, you're on your own. Clear?"

The Mobians nodded.

"Any questions? No? Good? We're off!"

* * *

"Omega Lead this is Sierra Alpha, you guys almost ready down there?" Sally asked tapping her COM set.

"_We're just about ready for the luring shot. How's the view up there Sierra_?"

"Uh...it's neat."

They were tethered to a quartz rock wall about a hundred feet above the ground, right in the path the tank would eventually take to attack. The Freedom Fighters were gripping the rock with white knuckles, in a manner of speaking. They were effectively camoflaged by the glare of the sun itself. The rock they were tied to was slick with water which Tails suggested came from an underground spring of some sort. The rubber soles of their boots negated fear of slipping off too. The sun reflecting off this water would provide a strong albedo affect to anybody looking directly at it. As a matter of fact, unless Sally gave the Lieutenant her coordinates on the rock itself, he couldn't see them. If the robot tank driver used thermals, the hot rock would far overlap them. The only monkey wrench in the works would come if the driver wanted to use a _heartbeat _sensor. As a robot, it would come in handy for determining friend from foe.

That's what worried Sal. If the driver saw their heartbeats, then all he would have to do was spray the rock face with automatic fire-or worse, the main cannon-and they would all be very, very dead. She held her breath and gripped the rock even tighter, forgetting all about the hundred foot drop.

"Aunt Sally?" Tails asked uncertainly.

"Not...a...word..." She whispered and closed her eyes. Then she did something she didn't do on a regular basis:

pray.

"Little, you're up!" Chris ordered pointing to his sniper.

Joe snapped to and walked up the incline going prone as soon as he reached the apex. He melded into the sand and got comfortable. He remembered the Lieutenant's order: _just get its attention. Do NOT attempt any fancy stuff_. Joe grumbled. His job was to take down a target from long range and be fancy about it, blowing up fuel tanks, decompressing a chamber with a good shot, and cause some extra damage in the process. He yanked the charging leaver ejecting a his last spent casing and putting a new one into the chamber. He was about to fire when the radio crackled.

"_Omega Lead this is Romeo-3. You alright over there, sir_?"

"_Romeo-3, radio silence. We'll contact you when you're done_!" The LT hissed. The COM snapped off.

Joe took the silence as his cue to begin his deadly balet. He sighted just in front of what he suspected to be the driver's cabin. The slit was far too small and he was sure whatever glass there was was bullet-proof.

"Firing." He said. He pulled the trigger and a small _phip_ came from the barrel.

The subsonic round impacted right where he wanted. The tank stopped dead in its tracks, unsure what was going on.

"Sir, I hit it but I think it's confused."

"_Get it again! Let him know something's out there_." He shot again, making sure he now aimed as close to the slit as he could. Spiderweb cracks appeared on the windshield and the turret started to turn.

"Shit! It's on to me."

"_Go, move! That's what we want!_"

Joe crawled away from the hill, making sure he broke the line of sight.

"_Sierra Alpha, can you confirm a visual on the tank?_"

"_I confirm, LT. She's on the move. She's almost at your position now._"

"_Alright Marines, this is it. Prepare to attack_." There was a _boom_.

"Alright! Let's go, let's go!" Chris shouted leading the men forward. There was another wave of explosions as the grenades detonated, spraying the tank with shrapnel. The robot's defensive protocols told it to fire the machine gun in no particular direction, so it did. Tracer rounds slashed through the air, digging deep divots in the ground.

"GET DOWN!" Chris screamed as rounds splashed all over the place. Three Marines took a couple rounds in the chest and arms. One died instantly but another was thrown to the ground screaming in pain. The medic grabbed him and dragged him behind a rock for treatment.

"GUYS, GO! GET TO THAT GUN!"

"_Copy! We're on the move!_" He couldn't hear them but he heard their exhales as they hit dirt. "_We're on the ground! Moving now!_"

"Move Marines! Flank that vehicle!" A sergeant screamed as the Marines broke ranks and tried to get around the tank.

It was slightly sluggish. Maybe a shard of metal managed to pierce the interior. Wow, bonus.

"Sergeant! It's blocking us!" a soldier cried.

Chris could see that the tank was picking up speed and slammed into a rock face, blocking any Marine who had thoughts of blowing it to smithereens.

"It's blocked us off!"

"_FALL BACK! FALL BACK!_" The Sergeant commanded.

They did but a hail of machine gun rounds cut a few Marines down, spattering the sand with blood. They regrouped behind a rock while the gun chipped away.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" The NCO asked Chris.

"That thing is a lot more powerful than we thought!"

"Yeah I wasn't counting in that." Chris said fixing his cap. His arm guard took a dent, some olive paint stripped away from the impact.

"OK, new plan. We break into three groups. Three men each. One of us stays behind this rock to act as radio operator with the Freedom Fighters. Uh...Jenkins, Alanko, Gordy, you're with me. Each one of us carries a detpack. Even if they don't destroy that thing, they'll damage her beyond repair. I've seen these beauties take out a small home before."

The Sergeant analyzed the plan. Three teams would prompt the tank to only follow one. Even if one team was taken down, the other two could take that tank down.

"Alright. You guys ready?" The LT asked.

The men nodded.

"OK! Let's go! Pick a direction!"

They ran from cover. Immedietely the tank targetted the team on the left, which was Corporal Little's group. Joe's team ducked under the bullets and made it to cover. They flashed the thumbs-up to the other teams. Chris caught it out of the corner of his eye. They were more than halfway there when the tank started firing at the Sergeant's men. One of his boys was clipped in the leg and crumpled.

Chris went into Conditioned Awareness and fired at the tank. The gun's mechanism seemed slow to him as it cycled the bolt. The kick was slow but powerful. His Full Metal Jacket rounds slammed into the tank's body. Before the casings even hit the dusty ground, the turret began to spin.

The marines called it 'Agro', a term used to define the ammount of heat, if you will, that an individual Marine put onto an enemy. Usually, an enemy would turn his attention towards the one whocaptured it in the first place. These robots were drones though bound by simple protocols. They would shoot at whoever was shooting.

The tank fired its main cannon, but it went wide and slammed into a rock face. A giant casing ejected out of its barrel and thudded to the ground.

"Jenkins, on point. Alanko, cover him! I need to draw fire!"

The Marines nodded and began their retreat. Chris give the tank a few more bursts making sure the gun was directly facing him. The second time the tank fired, it landed right in front of him. Well, _below_ him. The ground blasted upwards and he was taken with it.

Chris cried out as he cartwheeled in the air and landed with a mettalic _thud_. His left leg felt bad, not broken but very bad.

He was fully conscious and radioed the Sergeant.

"Sarge, are you in position?" He whispered. The robot probably thought that he was dead because the tank's turret began to spin away, assaulting Little's team who drew its attention away.

"_We're ready. Planting charges now_!" Suddenly, an orange explosive warning sign appeared on the tank.

"_We're falling back! Pulling the trigger in five!_" Chris braced himself. That tank wasn't even a hundred feet distant. "_Hang on guys_!"

The tank detonated in a flash and a bang. It sounded like a tanker truck exploding up close. The eplosive device was so powerful that it lifted the tank three feet off the ground. Thankfully there was no shrapnel The burning hulk landed in a crash and several bangs sounded inside, probably more rounds detonating.

The Marines crowed in victory and shouted a couple 'Ooh-rah' calls to the heavens. Jenkins helped Chris to his feet.

"Thanks man." He saw the destruction that he wrought. He smiled and shook the sand from his hat. "Good work Marines!" He ran to the radio operator. He was crouched behind the rock along with the medic. There was blood on the ground as the Corpsman tried to remove the bullet against the wounded Marine's protest.

"How's it going Marine?" The LT asked.

"Alright. I've been tracking their location ever since they touched down. Nice work on the tank by the way."

"That honor goes to the Sergeant Taikof here." The Sergeant stood proud, appreciating the praise.

"Well, they're just entering the clearing the guns are in and...hey!"

"What?" Bishop asked.

"It's just gone static! There's nothing coming through! Must be interference."

That didn't sound good to Vennettilli of course, who took off at full speed towards the guns. He only heard Bishop's Cockney accent barking. "OI! LEFTENANT! WHERE THE 'ELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING NOW?"

* * *

Sally came up to the AA guns. She looked at them in disgust. They had no place here, four thick legs planted them in the ground.

"They look automated." She noted.

Tails nodded. "Yeah. They're programmed to attack anything that isn't autobroadcasting an FOF tag , so they could attack on either side."

Sally tilted her head in thought. "That being said, can't we just comandeer them?"

Tails leaned on the guns. "Heh. That'd be nice, but the signals are directly controlled from the factory. Namely, that big thing up there." He pointed to the factory in the sky.

"So then we blow it up." Sonic concluded.

"That's correct Sonic." Tails said.

"Alright _soldiers_. Let's get this show on the road." She cracked her knuckles. "Throw me some demo charges." She asked the echidna. The warrior took the C-9 Composition and threw them to Sally. "Careful Knucks, these things can go off from trauma!"

"Yeah, yeah. You got it. Remember, we want to set them on the front legs. The towers will collapse from the undistributed mass."

Sonic whistled. "Whoa, when did you become a demoman?"

He laughed. "I've brought down plenty of buildings in my time, Sonic."

There was a blast from down the road and a metal crash.

"Sounds like the Marines took that tank down." Tails said smiling in delight.

"They'll spend five minutes gloating about it." Sally said rolling her eyes but smiling. She heard some battle cries.

"I'll break it up." She tapped the COM. "Lieutenant Vennettilli this is Sierra Alpha."

White noise.

"Sierra Alpha to Lieutenant Vennettilli, come in, over!"

still more static.

"Chris...?"

"Sally..."

She turned. Tails had his X38 out and yanked the charging switch. A green light lit up. She took the hund and pulled her assault rifle out.

"Eyes up everyone. We have company."

Sonic cocked his gun somewhat akwardly, pulling the charging lever all the way back.

"What are we looking for?" Knuckles asked.

"Assassins." Sally said simply sighting down her rifle.

They circled around the gun with their weapons raised, breathing deeply. Suddenly there was a _shnnk_ and Sally screamed

"GET DOWN!"

Four Mobians hit the dirt Sally just saw a heat blur pass over her.

_Heat blur..._

She unloaded a quarter of her magazine into the blur. The robot's camoflage failed and it crumpled on the spot.

"Guys! Whenever you see a heat blur, shoot it!"

"Sound advice." Sonic said sighting for targets. One nealy came up next to him. "Oh shit!"

He pulled the trigger in surprise. A burst of automatic fire erupted from the barrel and made short work of the assassin. He laughed as he realized it was entirely by accident.

Tails also racked up a kill as he fried a robot. The processor exploded after a slight burn from the stungun. The superheated core also took out one of its companions.

"We need backup!" Knuckles said slamming the butt of his rifle into a robot's midsection and punching it in the face.

"Keep them busy!" Sonic said.

"I'll-"

he never got to finish as a robot dragged him down. Before it could stab him as a finishing blow, Sally shot him and extened a hand to Sonic. She heard the _shnnk_ again just a little too late. A knife came to her throat and she stiffened.

"I have five men with guns on your friends." A cold and mettalic voice said. It wasn't preprogrammed like the other drones. This one seemed, chilling as it sounded, human.

"You try to break free, I slit open your jugular and you die in less than two minutes. Your friends try to attack, they die in ten seconds."

Sally tried not to struggle as the knife touched her skin.

"Go...fuck yourselves."

"Fine, mock me. This doesn't improve your current situation."

"I think that's what I'm for."

The robot's face exploded outwards and soon even the camoflaged assassins were down, twitching slightly. She felt her throat, gasping slightly. A bit of blood was flowing but it wasn't serious. She turned around.

The Lieutenant was standing in the sunlight.

"I'm going to start charging you now!" he said smiling. Sally laughed happily as she was helped to her feet.

"About time you showed up!" The princess said getting up. She grabbed the Marine's hand and he gave her a tug upwards, nealy throwing her to her feet. She gave the assassin a strong kick to the face and caused it to whirl over.

"Bitch." She cursed.

"Are there any more?" Miles asked.

"Sergeant Taikof, come in, over."

"_Read you, LT. How's everyone?_"

"We're A-OK here. We'll regroup in a few. Over."

"_Copy that, sir. Overout_." He shut down the COM.

"We're good, Highness." Miles then clutched his torso.

"AH!" He said doubling over. His hand came away red with blood leaking from the wound.

"I think I got hit."

Chris ran over to the fox.

He got down on one knee and inspected the wound. "Looks like a grazing, very close one too."

Sonic also came. He treated Miles as a little brother, so he naturally felt responsible for him.

"What is that, bullet or knife?"

"Too round for a knife. I think one of the guards discharged when I shot them. Sit down, Tails."

Tails was too shocked to refuse. He thumped on the ground.

"Stay still." Chris reached into his backpack and retrieved a canister of biofoam and a length of combat dressing.

"Now, stay still, this may sting a little and God knows you don't want to mess this up."

he popped the cap and sprayed some foam on the grazing. Tails screeched for a second before Sonic clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Good man...erm...hedgehog."

"Get on with it!"

"Calm down Olgilvie."

He wrapped the bandage around Tails' midsection and tied it tight.

"There we go." He tapped his COM again.

"Any Romeo callsigns still rolling?"

"_This is Romeo-3, I'm alright. Need an oil change though_."

the driver chuckled.

"Da. _Romeo-4 is still being fine sir_." came a heavily accented Russian voice. Then the passenger came on.

"_That's not entirely true sir. Our rear right tire's been shreded. Runflats can get us a little while but I wouln't put too much money on it. Also got a shot up hood, spewing some smoke here_."

"OK, I'm marking our current position with a waypoint. Move in and we'll light this puppy.

"Why not just torch them now?" Knuckles asked showing them the detonator.

"No, I want the Doctor to see this. I want him to see what we can do."

He waited twenty minutes as the rest of his Marines regrouped.

"Gentlemen! We are gathered here today to send this bastard a message. We are here to flip him the largest bird we have flipped thus far. In a second I will hand the detonator to my associate here." He indicated Knuckles. "But first..." He turned to the factory.

"hey you bastard! I know you can hear us! You push the Marines, we push back!" The men behind them roared in approval.

"My good sir?" he handed the button to Knuckles.

"I've been waiting for this!" he tapped the button. Flame blossomed on the front legs and sent clouds of flame into the air. Both AA turrets creaked and fell over the edge. There was a loud bang as they hit the ground. The Marines cheered.

"Alright! Where's the Pelican?" Sally asked.

"No ride until the Communications and Anti Air on that factory are taken down." The LT simply said.

"So we wait then." Little said.

"Yeah. Get comfortable."

* * *

The sun arced across the sky. Down on the canyon floor, Colonel Fulsome drove the 66th Tank Battalion through the area, blasting small forces here and there. Slowly and slowly, Eggman's hold on the valley was loosening. However, the doctor was getting angry. Soon, small dots came on the horizon.

"Hey Chris...what's that?" Tails asked.

Chris squinted, but he couldn't make it out. "Sniper rifle, someone. Little, hand me it."

Joe relinquished his weapon to the Lieutenant. Vennettilli put his eye to the scope and viewed the dot. It turned out to be a bird-like VTOL similar to the one they encountered in Megaopolis.

"Egg Hawk!" He reported. "Do we have _any_ Surface to Air weaponry?"

"Sir...we have nothing. We used them all against the tank." Bishop said in a shocked voice.

"Alright everyone! Get set! aim for the Gattling gun!"

The VTOL approached their position and spooled the gun under its beak. It fired a small burst which chipped away a large portion of rock and sand.

"Shit!" Chris said running for it. He fired a few bursts from his rifle. The bullets glanced off the hull. It didn't even scratch. "We need support!" He yelled at the man he assigned as radio operator.

"Sir, the spectrum's clear! Wait one! I have a pelican on my sensor! Hull ID pings it as Victor 101!"

Chris smiled. "Damn it, Green!"

"_What's the situation ground-pounder_?"

"Talk about Deux Ex Machina." Sally said amazed.

"We have a VTOL, big guns." One round splashed next to him around three feet away. "Want me to designate?"

"_Negative, I've got him_. _Get your heads down_." Victor 101 poked her head out from behind a rock face. The Egg Hawk was starting to turn.

"_Fox one, fox one!_" A score of sleek Anvil V missiles erupted from the wings and slammed into the Hawk. They hit the rotos and caused it to spin out and slam into a rock face. Debris rained to the canyon floor and smoke ribboned into the sky.

"_Target neutrilized, Lieutenant! I'm coming in for dustoff_!"

"_Negative Green, those systems aren't down yet._"

"_The call came in twenty five minutes ago that the ODSTs completed their mission. I tried reaching you but I got static. I had to kick in afterburners to get here._"

"Yeah long story. Alright, circle in."

The Pelican dropship tilted her nacelles and hovered a few feet above the plateau. the crew chief, a tall human wearing dark aviator glasses waved them inside.

"Come on! Let's go! We don't have all day, Marines!" The survivors clammered into the Pelican and took their seats.

"Well, this is it! We're under the shroud of secrecy!" Sonic said excited.

"Yeah, about time we pay Robotnik back for every life he destroyed." Miles said cracking his knuckles.

Victor arced into the sky. Chris unbuckled himself and walked towards the cockpit. "Nice to see you again, Green."

She smirked under her visor. "You don't think a little injury would stop me ferrying you boys around did you?"

"No, I guess not." the marine said smiling. "Who's your partner?"

"Oh he's new. Lieutenant Vennettilli, meet Senior Warrant Officer Halen Whiston."

Whiston flipped up his visor, revealing his dark brown eyes. "Lieutenant, a pleasure!" He said shaking the man's hand.

"It's all mine."

"No, I mean wow! Your team captured General Fukoma on Talahan? I was just an enlisted pilot back then!"

"I did _not_ capture him."

"Whatever, sir. Well, a pleasure to be ferrying you sir."

Chris bit his lip as they came level to the factory. There was no other Pelican in sight.

"Just make sure the sun won't get in your eyes, Warrant Officer. Just because they're deaf and paralyzed doesn't make them anymore dangerous."


	23. Chapter 23: Who's There?

Chapter 23: ...Who's There...?

July 1st, 3234, 1723 hours

The Great Desert, Former Carson City

The Flying Factory

"Clear left!"

"Clear right!"

"Sergeant! All compartments clear, SIR!" An ODST said.

Sergeant Gordon Chan nodded in acknowledgement. "Good work gentlemen!"

He said as he clicked the safety on his assault rifle. In front of him was a now-smouldering lump of circuitry, plastic and refined metal, the remains of the ship's sensory servers. A few well placed det charges and C-9 Foamed Composition set the computer out of its misery. With that down, the rest of the Marines would be able to come aboard without incident.

"Corporal Chauncy! Sit rep, _pronto_!" Chan barked.

"Sir, I've done a sweep with a motion tracker and electromagnetic sensors, but we seem to be in the clear!"

"Can you raise Fire Teams Bravo and Echo on COMs?"

"Negative sir. Every time I try I just get static.

Chan gulped. "Probably just interference. Rico, "Spike", go look for them."

Two gruff Marine Lance Corporals nodded and jogged down the hall. Even if they couldn't find Bravo and Echo, their IFF transponders would ping if they were in the general vicinity. These couldn't be faked since IFF codes these days were brainwaves which were converted into electric signals and broadcasted to other Marines through a device in their bloodstream.

"Signal's weak." Rico said to "Spike". Actually, nobody knew why they called him that, but some suggest that it was because of his spiked dreds look he sported before he joined the Corps.

"OK, I'll stay right next to you, tell me if it gets stronger."

"Yeah..."

They crossed an intersection. "You see anything?" Spike asked.

"Negatory." Rico responded. "Still no signal."

"Yeah." Rico said looking at his PDA. "Watch for robots, Spike."

The two ODSTs crept down the hall. It was dimly lit. Up ahead, a robot marched up the hall. It had a smiling face spraypainted on its shoulder.

"Shoot it." Rico decided.

"NO! Too loud a report! Even if we use supressors, one richochet could give us away." Spike deduced.

"Then what do you suggest my good sir?"

Spike put his hand to his chin so to speak with his helmet on.

"Something ballsy, something..._ODST_."

He stowed his assault rifle and drew a foot long combat knife. He silently sprinted up the hall and sunk his knife into the robot's head. The robot tried to clutch the blade that was sticking out of its head, but the lights dimmed and it fell to the ground.

Spike kicked the robot. He depolarized his helmet and smiled at Rico. "How was _that_?"

"Oorah!" Rico called giving his partner the thumbs up.

They regrouped and moved farther up the hall. They opened the door and put their guns up. It was a small room that had a fountain and a large curving window. It overlooked an atrium. In the center, there was a trail of blood which led through another door. A single dog tag lay in the puddle. Rico got down on one knee and lifted it and inspected it.

**SHEFFIELD, MURRAY J. **

**S/N 61927-02730-MS**

**B +, NO PREFERENCE**

"Whose is it?" Spike asked looking out the window for snipers.

"Sheffield's." Rico simply said.

"Shit. They're dead! I know it, they're fucking dead!"

Spike said balling his free hand into a fist. "We can't be sure. Come on. Keep your gun up."

They crept to the door. Before they even touched it, it slid open. "Oh that ain't good." Spike then added flicking his safety to full auto.

The light flickered on and off in a slightly inclined hallway. It curved upwards. After a few seconds, Rico and Spike heard moans of pain. "You hear that?"

"Yeah. Sounds like only one guy."

They came to the top. An equaly elegant room had another window, but no fountain, instead, a large computer moniter. There were bodies. Four or five men were on the ground bleeding. One of them was still moving.

"Hello?" Spike asked him.

"S...Sheffield. Service Num...Number 61927-02730-MS."

at once the two men ran to him. Sheffield was in bad shape. He was clutching his leg which had a large bullet wound in it. There was also a large cut on his chest.

"Can you move?" Spike asked.

"I...I don't know. They ambushed us. They...they _killed_ them! Francis, Jackson...Debrah and Kolin! They're all dead!"

"Calm down, Marine!" Rico said moving to his level. "We'll get you some meds. Who did this?"

Sheffield stuttered. "Th...the _monsters_! We couldn't see them! We couldn't hear them! They just picked us off one by one, making sure they stopped breathing!"

"He must be deliarious"

"Hang on then..." Spike said.

"Why did they leave you alive?"

"I...I was bait."

"YOU WERE WHAT?!"

There was a hissing noise from down the hall. The door closed.

"Oh fuck me." Rico said as he flipped around. The lights dimmed to near darkness. Then, the screen came on. A man with a large moustache, dark, mirrored glasses and bald head was staring straight at them.

"_Good evening gentlemen. Welcome to my home. You are among the latest to meet me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Doctor Julian Kintobor, but you can call me Doctor Robotnik_."

"Let us go you sick fuck!"

Robotnik pointed to Rico.

"_You know I'm starting to get sick of you people saying that. Whenever I have someone over it's always some variation. '_Let us go!, I have a child! How can you be so cruel?_' Pathetic._"

"You sir, are an asshole." Rico fired back.

"_Eh, take what you can get_. _I was actually expecting the Freedom Fighters here. I was expecting that Lieutenant that borded my ship back on Earth_."

"Who the hell are _these_ guys?"

Robotnik actually showed some surprise. "You mean...you mean that they aren't even on the ship."

"_NO!_"

"_Excuse me one second_."

* * *

"They aren't even on the ship, Shadow! This advance team must have been a ruse!"

"I don't think so, Doctor. I think they are part of a much larger plan."

"I should have sent you to deal with them in the first place!"

"What good would that have done? My leg is still hurting. If I try to go in-assuming that I could even Chaos Control out of this command center-I would be shot, stabbed and kicked to death."

Julian thought about it, getting up to pace.

"Maybe I have overstepped my own building abilities. I apologize, there was no time to make adjustments."

"No need to apologise."

"I appreciate that. Excuse me, I believe I left my audience."

* * *

"_Still there_?"

Rico spread his arms. "Not much else we can do."

"_Good men. Now, in light of recent events, I don't think that any of you are going to leave this room alive. Do not attempt to warn your Sergeant. It will be little good. Your comunications are being blocked from both ends._"

"_Wh...what's he saying?!_" Sheffield asked gripping his leg.

"_In other words, you're about to hand in your resignations! Goodbye gentlemen. A pleasure speaking to you and thank you for being part of this whole project._" The screen snapped off, plunging them into near total darkness.

"Rico, eyes up. I...I think we got company."

"Copy. Switching on VISRs now."

The room was bathed in a dull white light, and the walls were outlined.

"Sergeant this is Rico! Can you hear me, Sarge?"

Static.

"It's no use..." Sheffield said on the ground taking deep breaths. "That's what we tried to do. They blocked ever signal."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE 'THEY'?! ANSWER ME!" Spike said gripping Sheffields's shoulders.

The Marine coughed and passed out.

"OH, USELESS BASTARD!" When Spike let go of Sheffield, he brought up his gun.

"Anything?"

"Nothing. Looks like a heat blur. Maybe a ruptured pipe."

That's what Rico thought. He kept that thought until the heat blur crept towards him silently.

"Hey Spike..."

"Shoot it!"

Then the blur charged. Rico unloaded his clip into it. The camoflage unit failed and the assassin's forward momentum carried it into the wall.

"We're under attack, cloaked assassins!"

"Nothing's getting through, Rico!"

"_KEEP TRYING_!"

Several more blurs came up the hallway. The ODSTs backed up. Spike lobbed a grenade down the hall. There was an explosion and the tinkling of metal hitting the floor but it didn't stop the advance. Three more _waves_ or enemies and then there was a lull in the fighting.

"So there's no way out."

"Not a damn chance."

Rico looked at the glass panes. "What about the windows. Looks like we can open them with a swift rifle butt."

Spike shrugged. "Hey, I'm open to ideas."

He grabbed his assault rifle and swung at the glass. Cracks appeared on the glass.

"One more time. Here, Rico. Take a swipe with me."

They both synchronized and smacked the glass at the same time. A pane shattered and there was a rushing of wind. They nearly lost their footing as air rushed out of their room.

"Negative air flow?" Rico asked.

"My guess is that this Robotnik guy is the only organic being on this ship. Why would he need nearly as much air as he does?"

"Fair point."

The door slid open and closed down the hall.

"We need to get the hell out of here!"

"What about Sheffield?" Spike asked.

"Grab him."

Spike threw the passed-out Sheffield over his shoulder.

"Come on! We need to jump!" Rico called.

So they did. the two ODSTs leapt through the window and free-fell for a full three seconds. Of all things, they landed in an artificial river. Spike had to break the surface to keep Sheffield from drowning. He climbed up the small wall and placed the incapacitated Marine on the floor.

"Rico, see anyone?"

"No."

"Try to raise Chan on the COM."

Rico tapped his COM. "Sarge, can you hear me?"

"_What the hell happened, Corporal? Where's Bravo and Echo_?"

"Sir, Bravo is all but destroyed. Sheffield survived. We have to assume that Echo went down, sir."

"_Fuck! What happened, why haven't you responded_?"

"Yeah, we were attacked by some sort of assassin. Intel didn't tell us any of this. This Robotnik guy knows that we're on board too."

"_Great. Hold position and stand by. We'll be right there._"

Rico saw a set of glowing eyes coming from the dark room they escaped.

"OK...we'll just...stay right here..."

* * *

"...and there's no mention of any other teams reaching the RV points?" Lieutenant Vennettilli asked Green.

"Negative sir. I've checked the scanners. The other birds are squacking but they haven't gotten green-lights from the other teams."

"You don't think we're the only ones left, do you?" Bishop asked.

"No, I saw some fighting on my way here. Colonel Fulsome is giving the tin cans hell on the ground. You're the only ones we have in the air though."

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot better." Chris whispered. He clapped Green's shoulder and walked into the troop bay. They had closed up the hatch because of wind speeds here.

"So, final plan, Lieutenant?" Sally asked cycling the bolt on her assault rifle.

"Final plan, we get the hell into cover and we _stay_ there!"

"Good plan." Sonic said nodding sarcastically.

"Yeah, hedgheog, we won't risk you running off a deck or into an intake. If you're going to sprint, keep it below 60, okay?"

Sonic made a 'whatever' gesture by twisting his palms.

"Heads up people. We're crossing over the hull in three, two..." Whiston said analyzing his instruments.

Out of the portholes, they could see the metal body of the factory. Tall smokestacks belched black clouds into the sky, swept away by the wind currents. Tails whistled. Victor 101 was _dwarfed_ by the factory.

"I see a docking bay of some sort. I'm going to drop you off there." the pilot said.

Once they were at a good altitude, the door opened. The crew chief kept the Marines close to the threshold back, while glancing out making sure it was safe.

"Approaching safe LZ in fifteen seconds. Lock and load gentlemen!" Green announced.

"And ladies..." Sally said more to herself than out loud.

The Pelican hovered above the metal hull, her landing gear deployed and it touched down.

The crew chief motioned them out. "GO, GO, GO! Hit it Marines!"

About fifteen boots hit the ground and started running.

"_Attention all Marines recieving. Come in, over_."

"Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli here. I am recieving." Chris said. He was CO and by rules, he had to answer.

"_This is Commander Harper aboard the UNSC _Yuri Gagarin. _Lieutenant. I want you to make sure that our landing zone is clear. We will be making this drop quick, son. Patch this through to the other team leaders._"

"Sir, as much as I'd like to, my team and I are the only ones besides the ODST advanced boarding party to get on this ship."

"_You're kidding_."

"Am not, sir."

Harper took a deep breath. "_Alright Lieutenant. My grandfather always taught me to work with what you've got. I'm going to need your help, son_." "Name it sir. I'm at your disposal." "_Our drop zone takes us directly perpendicular across the hull. I'm marking the position. It's not far from your current position. Your objective will be to secure that LZ._"

"When will you be dropping?"

"_Whenever you're ready Lieutenant. Harper out_."

Chris frowned. He had just recieved new orders. Since this job aided in the overall mission there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it! No other team leaders were on board yet and he doubted that the ODSTs were...

"..._Help. Can anybody hear us? S.O.S. you bloody bastards! Can anybody hear us?_"

Sally ran in the direction of the voice. "Follow me!" she ordered the men.

The COM signal got stronger until they found a service hatch. It was forcibly jammed open. Inside was a group of men with mirrored black faceplates.

"State your name and rank, Trooper!" Chris asked the leader.

"Callard, Jonathon, Staff Sergeant. Service number 71992-01837-JC. You want my fucking phone number too? Who the fuck are you?"

"Vennettilli, Chris, First Lieutenant."

Callard and his boys visibly stiffened. "Sir, I apologize. We've been under stress the past few hours."

"Apology accepted, Sergeant. What the hell are you guys doing in a hole?"

"We hid from the assassin robots. They hacked up members of my team and Fire Team Echo."

"What about Chan and Fire Team Bravo?"

"I...don't know sir. We locked this door and managed to blow the top off this thing for fresh air. We didn't expect anybody to come for us. When we heard your Pelican we knew we had a chance then. So...hows about giving an Aussie a hand, eh mate?"

Chris smiled. He reached into his backpack and drew a length of electrical wire. He carefully strung it down to the ODSTs. Callard grabbed the wire.

"Hey, this stuff will hold, right?" Chris looked around. He found a sturdy looking antenna. He looped the wire twice and knotted it.

"Yeah, it should. Come on Helljumper. Up you get!"

Callard climbed slowly and steadily. He reached the roof without incident. The rest of the ODSTs made it up without falling.

"Thanks." Callard said.

"Now let's find a way in." Sally did a double take. "Hang on...didn't we just get you _out_ of the ship?"

"We jammed the lock." a Marine with a Mexican accent said. "One way."

"Well that's just great." Sonic said.

Chris thought. "OK. Sonic, scout ahead, look for an alternate way in." He jogged for fifteen seconds before sprinting back.

"We have a window, a literal window. About twenty by ten."

"Sounds like a plan." The Helljumper said hands on hips.

* * *

The window seemed fairly solid. "We're not going to get through this easily." Knuckles said inspecting it.

"We sure as hell shouldn't stand on it either."

"Then the best course of action should be to toss grenades." Sally deduced.

"Excellent, Princess. Let's be serious though. As soon as we open the window, they may know where we are."

"That's a risk we're gonna take." A female ODST said.

They threw several fragmentation grenades onto the pane. When they detonated, the panel blew outward. A gust of air came out of the breach and shot into the sky. Red lights sprang on.

"Decompression alert!" Callard said. "This is _worse_ than being detected!"

A black dot appeared on the horizon.

"Oh wow. Here comes the _Yuri_." Bishop said.

It was truly a magnificent sight watching the frigate descend from the atmosphere. The black dot grew bigger and more detailed until she was an 800 meter long ship. She was coming in fast though.

"I don't think she's landing." Sally noted.

She was right. The _Yuri Gagarin_ was speeding up if anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw more Pelican dropships coming over the hull. The Operation had officially begun. The frigate roared over the hull and dropped several pods on the deck. These metal pods impacted and dug into the metal. When the explosive bolts on the pods detonated, they revealed a stunning and deadly 30 foot Mech. A full squad, comprised of a Boomer as Squad Leader, two Wolverines, and two Blackfoot models. As the ship blasted back into space, they began a slow and lumbering march. Chris managed to intercept some COM chatter from the pilots.

"_Foxtrot-2 and 3, fan out and sweep the area, shoot any motherfucker that don't look human_."

"_Heh, heh. You got it, gunny_."

"_Uh...as long as it doesn't mean our indigs._"

"_Copy, Foxtrot-4, now begin your passive sweep, out_."

They split up and went separate ways. Sal pointed to the Wolverines going on their own path.

"Those guys better not get cocky. I've seen things that big screw up."

"Won't happen." Chris assured. "These guys know what the hell they're doing."

"Tell me you're right..."

"Look, everybody in the hole! Now! We've wasted _enough_ time out here."

They vaulted in.

"Air pressure must be stabilized." Callard noted, "Otherwise bulkheads may have closed."

"Staff Sergeant." Vennettilli said adressing Callard. "What was the last known transmission you got from Echo?"

Jon took a second to think about it. "I think it was an hour, two hours. They mentioned that they were en route to our position...when they just blanked out, COM patterns wiped off the map."

"Assassins!" Sally hissed.

"Eggman knows we're here. This is why we barely see any normal robots! He's flooded the ship with invisible troops!" Tails said. "There's gotta be a way to spot them!"

A Marine said. "Sir, Active Camoflage! What did they tell us in school? Damn, I forget!"

It was Callard who realized, "They generate heat! Active Camoflage doesn't mask heat signatures!" He turned to the surviving ODSTs. "OK Troopers! Reconfigure your VISRs to display thermal vision. These bad guys are gonna stick out like a sore thumb. So to speak."

"What about us?" Chris asked.

"We mark 'em you got 'em!" the ODST said.

Chris shrugged. It was a fair plan as they didn't have thermal imaging. Why would Command issue them? Robots are as cold as steel. Command was stupid.

"Right, with reinforcements on the ground, this may make our assault much easier." Chris said. "The sheer ammount of troops on the ship may prompt Eggman to send in the bigger guns, then we can take them out."

"Oorah." A few Marines said.

"OK. Callard, take point."

"Yes sir." He slid on his helmet and polarized the faceplate. "ODSTs, move out!"

They went down the corridor.

"Sir, approaching hostiles, left side." Martinez said.

"Got them, firing."

A quick couple of _pfft_s from his suppressed rifle made two camolfaged robots fall to the ground. Martinez checked the intersection.

"Clear. Move forward."

They entered a maintinence access corridor. Martinez sniped an uncamoflaged guard.

"Clear left."

"Clear right." The female ODST said.

"Hallway clear, sir!"

"Alright then. I remember Chan saying something about a tram on the way in. Bugger, I can't remember which way it was."

Chris looked for a directory, even a rudimentary spraypainting. Nothing. "There aren't any markings on the walls." He prompted.

"There shouldn't be." Martinez explained. "This entire ship is automated. Not much need for a ship directory when your only tennents (besides that _pandejo_, Robotnik) live here."

Sally shrugged. "Maybe we'll get lucky. It's a _big_ ship."

"Speaking from your perspective Highness, I pray to God that you're right." Callard said.

"Two teams go in these directions." Chris said pointing up and down the halls. "ODSTs and my team, split up. Make sure that you have an ODST with you at all times. Do not stray, do not wander. Is this clear?"

"_Sir, yes sir!_" They said.

"OK, Callard, go with my boys. Bishop, Jenkins, Little, you guys, go with Callard. Tails, Knuckles, Sally, with me. Martinez and...Maybell," he said adressing the female Sergeant. "Follow us."

Sally wheeled to look at Chris. "You know, I _don't_ need a babysitter Chris! I can handle myself!"

"Sally..."

"No, I'll be fine!" She turned on her heel and ran after Callard's group. Chris exhaled and watched her round a corner. He was about to leave with Martinez when he decided to turn around.

"Chris...where are you going?" Tails asked.

"I know I am going to regret this. Come on Tails. Let's look for Miss Acorn. Martinez, keep in _constant_ radio contact. Check in every three minutes."

"You got it, Lieutenant."

* * *

They jogged down the hall and rounded the corner that the others did. They were already long-gone. The good news was that the hall was one way, no diverting lines. After a quick scan, they advanced.

"Keep your guard up Miles. They could be shielded."

"I'm not getting anything." They went farther down. They then heard weeping. Someone was crying.

"That sounds like Sally." Tails quietly said.

"You sure? Are you sure it's not a prisoner?"

"Positive."

Chris called down the hall, "_Hello_! Anybody down there?"

Callard answered. "Lieutenant...? You'd better come see this..."

The tone of his voice made smaller by the distance suggested something very, very wrong indeed.

"Come on!" the Human said as he picked up speed. He slid his assault rifle over his back. He rounded the corner and what he saw froze him to his very core. It was Bravo Team.

"Oh no..." Tails said as his eyes widened.

"What happened? _WHAT THE FUCK DID HE DO TO THEM?!_"

"...They've been roboticized."

Frozen in place, not moving, not seeing. Chris was staring at what was once the First Squad of ODSTs. Sally was slumped in a corner crying slightly. Chris averted his eyes for a second but then locked on Chan, who was near the center as a frozen metal husk of himself. He stayed away from him. He was frightened of him. Chris' heart sped up signifcantly as he looked upon the ODSTs' faces. Each one who wasn't wearing a helmet was staring off into some unseeing space, mouthes agape in horror. Some were grasping at their throats as if someone was choking them. Tails was less shook up than Sally by far, as if he had seen this much more times before.

"Excuse me?" Chris asked with bite in it.

"Roboticized. It's a process that's centuries old in theory. Scientists have, ever since around 2037, tried to find a method to convert organic matter into inorganic metals, Usually by finding and forcing an increase in metal molecules in a substance. Never really worked, but it was the closest they had to alchemy."

"So these poor bastards are essentially...robots?" Corporal Little said in a tiny voice.

Sally got a hold of herself and stood up. "Yes..."

"...Well," Tails cut in, "they more or less don't have free will, and they weren't willingly transformed. That's why they aren't moving."

Chris brought up the courage to go up to Chan's face an look at him, black photoreceptors where his eyes would be. "You poor bastards. Is...is there anything we can do for them?"

Tails looked to Sally. She looked to Chris and shook her head. "No. The only thing that could save them is almost a thousand miles away..."

"...The Sword of Acorns."

Sally nodded. "Yeah. You know that it is impregnated with Chaos Energy, right."

"Yeah."

"Well, that Chaos Energy is so powerful, it can restore the Free Will of creatures imprisioned in these men." She said indicating the ODSTs. "But can we _help_ them? Can we _free them_?" Chris asked with feeling in it. He felt responsible for these men. That's the trouble when you wear the bars. Sally shook her head with a very sad look in her eyes. "No. We don't know how to reverse the process. They'll be stuck like this forever, even if we can restore their Free Will."

Chris leaned up against the wall and placed a hand to his face.

"I'm sorry!" Sally said, "We can't do anything for these men!"

The Lieutenant then steeled himself. He fixed his cap and checked his ammunition. "Alright. Marines, ODSTs, follow me."

"Yes sir!" They all said. Never again did he look at Sergeant Chan and his ODSTs. Before they left, Sonic slid into the room.

"Hey guys, I was just checking...oh..." He noticed the stony face on the LT, dark cicles under his eyes caused by the lighting. It made him all the more menacing and threatening. Chris pushed past him and walked alone down the hall.

* * *

"Hey Tails, do you think he's is alright?" Sally asked walking behind Chris. She spoke in a low whisper only audible to a few Marines around her.

"No. Did you see his face?"

"He hasn't said a single word. He shouldn't be in front either. He's making himself a huge target."

"Aunt Sally...I think he knows."

_It wasn't my fault. I know it wasn't my fault. My actions didn't get those Troopers imprisioned for God knows how long, but I can't help but feel responsible. Seeing them like this...it scared me more than anything ever did. I feel...wrong...I'm not exactly sure what I'm feeling right now, but all I know is that it isn't good_. Chris thought this to himself. A long walk down the hall really got him into thinking. What caused something like this? Was it a new weapon? A ray gun or a potion or posion that changed your atomic structure? This could go on all day.

"Check in Martinez." Chris said into the COM.

"_I copy, sir. Hey, I think I found another tram!_"

Chris smiled. "Very good Martinez. Hold your position."

"_Sir, I think I hear something_."

"Hang on, I'm coming! Come on, guys!"

Martinez scanned the tram station. He waved some Marines to the side. "Careful. Laser sights on, and check for thermals."

"Roger." Knuckles said.

"Steady guys." Martinez crept forward. "Is anybody-"

Suddenly, a man burst from the shadows and tackled Martinez.

"YOU BASTARDS!" He screamed.

Knuckles ran to the Human and grabbed the crazed soldier.

"YOU FUCKING KILLED THEM!"

"Calm down!" the echidna urged. He threw him onto the wall and pinned him there. He was shaved bald and seemed of Hispanic origin.

"Name and rank." Martinez growled, rubbing his neck.

The Marine gulped. "Rico, Juandisimo, Lance Corporal."

Martinez nodded. "Right. You're a survivor of Bravo. What happened here?"

Rico took a deep breath. "We were looking for Bravo and Echo Squads. We found only one survivor, Sheffield. Me and Spike ran for it with him. Sarge told us to stay put but...they _did_ something to him! They just turned him into metal! Right before my fucking eyes!"

"Turned them to _metal_?"

"_THEY JUST STOPPED MOVING! OH GOD, Oh my God...!_"

"What is he talking about?"

"They've been roboticized." Lieutenant Vennettilli said walking into the intersection. "A process of metamorphosis through metal-organic replacement. Eggman's work."

Callard added, "Robotnik's been using it for decades. It's useful with Mobians who are transformed into mettalic slaves. Humans...not so easy. Without proper consent, they are merely transformed into statues."

Rico nodded. "Yeah, that's about right. Is there anything we can do to save them?"

"No." Sally said. "Without the Sword of Acorns, they'll be trapped like this forever."

"Hold on. Lance Corporal Rico, where was your friend? Corporal Lee Thomas?" Callard asked.

Rico pipped up. "You mean Spike?"

"Yeah, Spike."

"I...I don't know. We were separated just before the Sarge and the rest of Bravo was 'metalized' or something-"

"Roboticized." Sally corrected.

"Whatever, before they were roboticized. I haven't heard from Spike at all for thirty minutes. I think he may be dead."

Chris sighed sadly. More dead soldiers.

"Gunny." Chris said calling Sally over.

"That my new nickname, Human?"

"That _is _your rank title is it not? Gunnery Sergeant Sally Acorn?"

"I never knew."

"Can you establish a command line out of this place?"

"That's a big negative, _sir_."

"Do you know the basic ship layout of Robotnik's craft?"

Sally shrugged and bit her lip. "They follow a similar layout, usually an atrium in the center and the bridge mostly on the aft section, dorsal side."

"On a ship this size, LT? You'd have to be mad to try and get that far." Bishop pointed out.

"Which is why we take the tram." Chris patiently said.

"Alright, you heard the Human, gentlemen!" Sally said. "Get your asses on this tram!"

"_Yes, Ma'am!_" They said. At once, they climbed into the train car.

"We're set to get to three junctions. Nothing we can do about that." Martinez said.

"Maybe we can." Tails said. "Excuse me, Corporal."

"Not a chance, Small Fry."

Tails smiled. "I think I might have something to say about that." He leaned his shoulder towards Martinez. On it was an eagle, and two chevrons. "As Petty Officer 2nd Class, I am _ordering _you to let me in there."

Martinez depolarized his helmet. "You are a smug little bitch aren't you?"

"Smug is the correct term I think. Now, if you don't mind, Corporal?"

Martinez sidestepped him. "Do your worst, _Petty Officer_."

Tails cracked his neck and leaned on the console. Using a screwdriver from his backpack, he pried open the computer and inserted a mini-console.

"What do you think you're doing?" The ODST asked.

"Writing a new subroutine to disregard all but the final junction. Just need to spoof the authorization codes, and we're done! Has to be a one-way trip. The computer will notice the anomaly and send a security team if we need to do it a second time."

"I stand impressed." Martinez said.

Tails walked to the Lieutenant, his tails flicking in excitement. "We're in for a smooth ride. Next stop, Construction Atrium."

They smiled. "Phase One completed." Chris announced. "Phase 2, we recon the CON-YARD and report any details. As for Phase 3, we find Eggman and destroy him."

Sonic leaned on the wall as the tram lurched forward. "One question: Why didn't we just destroy this ship from orbit? It would have been easier."

"Our mission is primarily for information, not pure destruction. We don't even have solid evidence that Robotnik is on this ship. He may have hundreds of these things."

That made some Marines shift uncomfortably.

"We find the CON-YARD and then we move from there. Any objections?"

"_No, sir!_"

The tram continued the path into the dark tunnels of the ship. More eyes were watching them now than ever before. This was not going to be easy and they knew it. Between the battle going on upstairs and the permanant scarring from seeing what was left of Bravo, this was going to be a stressful day at best.


	24. Chapter 24: Constructive Criticism

Chapter 24: Constructive Criticism

July 1st, 3234, 1915 hours

Flying Factory

Former Carson City

The tram coasted down the bowels of the flying factory. They had barely traversed a third of this flying fortress. It was that big. Twice they had coasted over a larger atrium and at least one of them had a huge bronze statue of Robotnik standing a hundred feet high.

That made Chris sick to his stomach. He was reminded of some leaders like Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Colonel Robert Watts, and General Lyle Fukoma who had statues of themselves erected. They believed they were doing great things, but all they had caused was death. Watts was questionable since all he wanted was separation from a Terracentiric government.

Tails spoke and brought the Lieutenant to his senses.

"We're coming up on Station 3! Heavy COM chatter! I think they're on to us now!"

Chris pulled out his magazine and checked the ammount of cartridges. Satisfied that there was still a half-full load of bullets, he slipped the magazine back into the MA5 until it fit flush with a satisfying _click_. He yanked the charging lever and reset the digital ammo counter.

"Marines, lock and load. We are T-minus five minutes from that station. We need a plan. Anybody have an idea?"

Sally raised her hand. "Uh...I have an idea."

The station was filled with robotic defenders. A full platoon was waiting for this one car. It had not stopped at any of the other stations which suggested that it was under control of an enemy force. The Chief Commander ordered a detatchment to intercept the tram at Station Kilo Lambda-3. No specifics, just that they should send "every robot they could get their hands on", so they did. Ten regular grunts, five heavy support gunners, a field commander and a sergeant.

The Commander took cover behind a packing crate. Kilo Lambda-3 was close to the CONYARD, so plenty of bulk cargo passed through this station. As of this moment however, the forklifts and mover drones had been recalled to decrease the friendlies in the area. Teamkills wouldn't look good on their operating records and could get them trashed.

"All units fan out, make sure you stay behind the pillars." The commander ordered. The Sergeant helped carry out the orders.

"Units 1 through 3, take left. Four, five and myself will stay right."

The tram pulled up and screeched to a halt. The door slid open. There was no movement. Clear as day.

"No movement." a grunt reported.

"Negative. Corporal, pull up, activate heartheat sensor."

"Roger."

The robot came forward and activated the subroutine. The normal radar was replaced with a semicircle showing around ten to fifteen spots in the tram.

"Got something. Request to clear out?"

"Negative, Override, We're coming."

A heavy support gunner came up to the car and set down his minigun. He plucked a grenade from his belt and moved to pull the pin out. This wasn't just any grenade, this was a tiny condensed _nuclear_ hand grenade. Tiny, less than a fraction of a kiloton, but regardless, when she went off, she would make a big boom, and a tiny cloud of gamma wave radiation which would kill anyone else if they survived the initial blast.

"Grenade ou..."

A shot came from nowhere. The gunner was hit in the head and crumpled on the floor. Unfortunately when he hit the ground, he released the safety lever which prevented accidental detonation.

"Get ready everyone, here it comes!" Sally said covering her head.

The grenade detonated in a small thermonuclear fireball. Anything that wasn't tied down was blow in all directions from the blast. boxes were shreaded, metal pieces were turned into deadly free-flying projectiles and the heat scorched anything that wasn't metal. The blast blew out the tram's windows. Glass shards flew over their heads. Aside from a couple cuts, nobody was hurt.

Then came the radiation. Chris' Geiger Counter started ticking wildly as the gamma waves set in. Thankfully they could avoid this if they moved quickly.

"OK! Everyone move! Stay away from the blast crater! That's the worst of the rads!"

The Marines ran for it, keeping to the right of the car. A few of the men started to sway slightly. Martinez even got sick. The place where the grenade went off was a red hot circle with metled robot carcasses around it.

"That was your plan?" Chris asked.

The Princess smiled smugly. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Oh, you knew! You _knew_ they were going to do that!"

"Learn by experience my human friend...ugh!" She doubled over.

"Christ! Alright! Everyone out of the way! Sonic, give me a hand!"

The hedgehog grabbed Sally from under the arm. Chris grabbed the other end. They continued down the only door they saw.

"She probably isn't responding well to the radiation. Has she had rad-training before?"

"No." Sonic admitted. "We never expected a nuclear attack, plus we have no facilities. What makes you think you're Superman?"

"I've had radiation training, been treated for a dampening ability, plus I've been exposed to the vacuum of space _next to a gas giant_."

That made Sonic raise an eyebrow. True he knew next to nothing about space travel but it was known that the space surrounding gas giants was _boiling_ with radiation. This was what made UNSC colonies on the Jovian Moons an interesting undertaking. The walls of all the colonies had to be solid lead to block even the strongest waves. Spaceships had lead coats to keep them from frying the men and women inside, and an average man of good health could survive unprotected for around ninety seconds and retain consciousness for around ten. The way Chris described it, he lasted long enough to recieve a healthy dose of rads, and recieve a thurough chilling. Sonic could not think of the silence, of the suffocating nothingness.

Sally's groans brought him back. She, unlike the Marines, was _not_ prepped for the deadly waves. They were already well away from the grenade blast, but this could severely weaken their fighting effectiveness.

"You OK, highness?" Chris asked.

"I feel...I feel..." She threw up on the floor. "...I feel fine."

_Sure._

"Anyone else have bad symptoms?"

"I've got some black dots sir!" Bishop said.

"Got sick." Joe Martinez said.

There were a few more 'got sick's among the Marines. This still made Chris angry. If any of them passed out, it would take time to carry them. Amazingly, they found a medical station down the hall.

"Leftenant! Med station left!"

"I don't believe this, Pressurized interior and then a _medstation_?" Callard said. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I think that this ship was meant to have a living crew." Chris said putting two and two together.

"A living crew? Who's he going to get to crew it?" Little asked. "I mean, there's not a whole lot of people willing to _do the job_."

"Maybe that's what we're for...The warpgate...We have over a trillion humans in our universe. Some must be willing to join this guy." Chris reasoned.

"Get me something." Sally groaned. She wasn't doing so well. Her mouth was dry and her eyes were out of focus.

"Sonic, check the medical center for some radiation medicine."

Sonic nodded and rifled through the station. He checked the computer for radiation medicine. He found some and ordered it up. The medicine appeared from a chute next to the computer.

"Handy." Sonic said pulling the tab off the bottle revealing a syringe. He ran back to Sally. "Where do I stick this thing?"

That's where Chris was at a loss. He was a soldier damnit, not a medic! "Hey, we have a doctor here?"

A Corpsman jogged up to them. She was a little bloodstained from her last patient.

"Give me that thing." She ordered.

Sonic handed the syringe over and and the Corpsman stuck it in her upper arm and pushed the plunger. The green fluid decreased slightly.

"What's it doing?" Chris asked.

"It looks like an antidote. These partciles seem to be overtaking the radiated cells and healing them. i don't have a microscope, hell I can't show you!"

"How quick does it work?" Chris asked.

"According to the bottle, two hours."

"Until then...?"

"Get used to carrying her."

Chris grumbled and slung Sally over his shoulder. She was light, despite the armor that she was wearing. "Wow, you have some weight on you." he joked.

"Fuck...You..."

"OK, through this door. I think we're getting close to the CONYARD." Tails said pointing to a door.

The door itself looked imposing enough. There were several warning signs on the door. There were more black and yellow warning stripes than usual and the black spraypainted letters spelt **CONSTRUCTION LEVEL**.

"OK, this is it. Marines, get ready for door breach. Stack up."

The men lined up against the wall and whatever cover it provided. Tails used an electric screwdriver to take the cover off of the panel and plugged a spoofer into the control pannel and sent an Infinity Code into the system. Sweat started to show on the Marines' faces. Chris in particular because one, he was nervous; two, he was hot; and three, he _was_ carrying upwards of one hundred fifty pounds of medicated anthro squirrel plus armor.

"Can you hurry it up?" Rico asked nervously gripping a Dyson Submachine Gun.

"They call it an 'Infinity Code' for a reason, Human." Miles hissed.

Chris raised an eyebrow. There were two ways to refer to a Human, depending on tone of voice. One was used for a formal greeting and lighthearted conversation, and the other was a downright insult. Ten bucks said he could tell the version Miles was using.

"Don't start with that racial shit, F-"

"Rico!" Chris snapped. The Marine shut his mouth.

Tails looked at the Lieutenant. "Thanks, human." he smiled and looked at the spoofer. The light turned green as the device managed to procure a match. "Got it! Stand back everyone!"

The door cycled open and slowly rose. At once, a wave of hit air hit the Marines. Chris prefered warm weather but this dried his skin right away. Heat waves came from the door and formed condensation on the ceiling.

"Come on, we need to move." the Lieutenant ordered.

The area beyond the door was larger than they thought. In fact, they never realized the size of the CONYARD until they stood on the catwalk just a few steps from the door.

"Holy shit..."

This was by far, the largest room they had ever been in. They were so far above the ground, they couldn't see the floor. Resting in berths, with sparks trailing from several of them were gigantic battleships, each one shaped like a swordfish with bright red and blue metal pannels. The room stretched for many long miles, each little bit was occupied by some ship.

"What the hell are they going to use all these ships for?" Joe asked. "There's nobody but robots here!"

Chris looked at the sniper. "Don't you get it? He's going to recruit any potential madmen to his cause! This entire ship will be filled with mercenaries, corrupt soldiers, rebels and Insurrectionists! He'll have the worst of the worst!"

"One big, rotten family." Miles noted. Some troopers laughed.

Sonic placed his hands on his hips. "Well, maestro, what's the next movement?"

The Lieutenant thought, his thoughts interrupted by the slowly recovering female slung over his shoulder. "We need support. Can Colonel Fulsome spare any men? What about Commander Harper?"

"You try contacting them through all this steel." Rico said slamming his fist onto one of the walls, resulting in a deep rining _gong_.

"OK, scrap that plan. I guess we're on our own."

"I'd think differently, Human."

From the depth of some rare shadows, a pair of red-rimmed eyes appeared. Some men aimed their guns towards the eyes.

"Hold your fire." Vennettilli ordered. "Looks like our man on the inside."

Shadow stepped from the darkness. His dark quills accented by some distant iron smelts. "You've gotten far, Human. To be truthful I didn't think either you or your men had what it takes."

"You'd be surprised with what we can accomplish, Synth'." Chris shot back. The term 'Synth' refered simply to a Synthetic Lifeform, someone that was born InVitro or flash cloned from a human egg. Shadow was created in similar methods he guessed.

"I would believe that, extrasolar travel, arcologies, and the overall survival of the human race, the works. I can't stay long. The loop I installed on the surrounding cameras will only pass for so long. If any of Eggman's drones notice the lapse, we're _all_ done for."

"Talk quick."

"You are now in the heart of the operation. This is where Robotnik's overall conquest of your galaxy will begin."

"What does he want? an empire?" Bishop asked.

"That's _precisely_ what he wants. He wants his banner to expand his empire to the farthest reaches of your galaxy and rule from Earth. He, of course, wants to be immortal as well."

Chris placed his free hand to his chin. "An immortal emperor who sits on a Terran throne and has the entire galaxy under his thumb? Where have I _heard_ this plot before?"

"Listen, a stupid plot from a movie or tabletop game isn't important!" Shadow said grabbing a niche on Chris' armor. "What matters is that all your plans will go to waste and nobody, _nobody_ is ever going home again!"

Chris suddenly squinted his eyes suspiciously. "What about you? What will you gain from all this?"

Shadow seemed visibly taken aback. This made Chris even _more_ suspicious as when he first met Shadow, he seemed calm, never to be shocked at anything. This didn't fit his demenor.

"You mean, aside from sleeping better at night knowing that a madman isn't out to terrorize all of Existence?"

"Yeah, aside from that."

"Well, for one there are the Chaos Emeralds. I want to keep one."

"Hey, no!" Sonic said stepping forward. "We need those Emeralds! The fate of our planet depends upon it!"

"Sonic, he _has_ been true to his word. He got us inside the factory."

"But-"

"That is _final_, Marine."

Sonic gritted his teeth. At this moment he totally _despised_ the Human. "Are. You. _CRAZY_?!"

He ignored the Mobian. "Shadow, when this all blows over, we'll see about giving you an Emerald."

"Uh...You don't have jurisdiction."

"Say what?" Chris asked. Tails stepped forward holding a handheld computer. "According to UNSC MIL/Judge Advocate General, Article 32 Subsection 4, _In the event that any field commanding offer may discover any human/alien article of sufficient value and/or impotance, he/she is to immedietely retrun the article of said value to a Naval Intelligence Officer. Any attempt to withhold said object is punishable with a fine of at least 20,000 dollars, a potential hearing and/or court marshall and subsequent imprisonment or dishonorable discharge._"

"Wow, you remembered all that." Martinez said.

"In other words, you are in no position to give him anything." Tails said in a final manner. As much as he hated to admit it, the kid was right. Chris knew the rulebook and knew if he was caught pawning this stuff off, he would be tossed in the brig headfirst, Detroit-Style.

He repeated, "We'll see about giving you an Emerald."

"Thank you, Human. Follow me!"

They sped down the walkway, keeping file on the relatively narrow catwalk. Below them were assembly lines carrying pieces of starship hulls, weapons, and small flying platforms of welders kept the pieces in place and showered sparks to the floor.

"This is amazing. He must have been planning this for some time." Knuckles said.

"This must have taken around twenty years to build, nonstop action!" Miles added.

"Freeze!" Chris hissed. Everyone stopped moving. "Sniper. Hover platform. four hundred meters distant. Little, take him down."

Everyone else got low as Joe stayed crouching. He unslung his sniper rifle and inserted a fresh magazine. Pulling the charging lever, he placed his eye to the scope. The sniper was patiently glaring from left to right. He hadn't spotted anything yet. Beside him, the massive cargo trams brought one of the battleships past him, effectively sound-masking him. He exhaled and pulled the trigger once.

_Pfft_.

The bullet hit the robot in the center of mass, just as a good sharpshooter would. It teetered and fell. He didn't try to follow its descent to the factory floor and looked for another target. He spotted a second who was oblivious to his partner's death. Joe struck again by blowing its head off. It also fell off the platform and into one of the smelting vats. A quick scan later, he discovered one more. This one on the other hand was aware of them and was already scoping his rifle to take Joe down.

Joe was quicker though. He sent a 14.5mm round through the robot's scope causing it to die on penetration. It slumped over the wall where it was stationed. The battleship passed and the regular noise of the factory returned, which to be fair, wasn't anything sweet.

"Good shooting." Shadow said.

Joe clicked his rifle's safety back on and nodded. "It's what I'm trained to do."

"Watch that intersection up ahead. Patrol coming from the west catwalk."

Three robots came up the walkway. A sergeant was flanked by two grunts, each carrying one of their custom made carbines.

"Wait for a good shot. Callard, Maybell, Martinez, get ready for a shot. Paint your targets." Chris ordered.

"Copy, Lieutanant." Callard growled. "I get the big one."

"_Mio Dio, _Sarge. You always get the big one." Martinez argued.

"I know." He said simply. "Shut the fuck up!"

The ODSTs took aim. Maybell and Martinez sighted on the back two while the Sergeant looked at the robot NCO. "Wait for sufficient sound masking, Troopers."

An iron smelter dipped white hot Iron into one of the vats producing a steaming, hissing noise. This was their target.

"Fire."

The Assault Rifle discharges were barely audible over the sound of the smelter, and three robots were blown off their feet nearly simultaniously.

"Targets down, Leftenant." Maybell reported.

"Good. Move up, watch for sentries!"

"Shouldn't we be worried about cameras, Chris?" Tails asked.

"No. The heat inside this place would be extreme. We're already getting singed as is. The camera wires can't take this much heat for long. There also should be electromagnetic waves inside this area also. Plus, glare would make vision near impossible."

"Well, regardless, Eggman must know we're in here by now.

There was a sudden straining on the roof overhead.

"What the hell was that?" Bishop asked.

"Sounds like the battle upstairs!" Callard noted

"Are we winning or losing?"

"Hell, I don't know."

Colonel Lionel Fulsome was a veteran of both the Robot War and the Second Rainforest War, as well as the little-known Hartland Rebellion when Former Admiral Nils Hartland rebelled against the UNSC and managed to convince an entire _battle group_ to turn to his cause. Fulsome and his men were deployed secretly onto Zeta Horologii b to destroy most of the battle group's landed frigates and capture Hartland almost without incident.

Here he was, five years after Hartland, in charge of an entire tank division! The thought was giddying to Lionel.

"Attention squad! Break left! Incoming mortar fire!"

Five M8VA Grizzly Battle Tanks turned on their treads towards cover to the arbitrary port side of the ship. On his right, two Battlemechs ran for the mortar line. A Black Cat and a Boomer launched their main weapons while sprinting at a beefy 50 kilometers per hour.

The _Yuri Gagarin _had made one more lightning pass to drop off extra supplies and ammunition to the troops so that they could hold out on the assault. What Fulsome didn't realize was that this major battle was only a _diversion_. This would draw Robotnik's attention away from the ghost teams that were inside the ship, looking for critical systems to take out. To his knowledge, five teams were active; three immedietely upon landing, and two were just sent in. They were the real mission.

"_Target sighted, danger close!_" One of the other tank gunners said.

"Target recieved, Soldier! Fire!"

Every tank in his squad turned and discharged their main cannons. 109mm slugs of tungsten obliterated a robotic tank, spraying flame into the air.

"_Target destroyed, goodbye!_"

"Don't get cocky! Got another! One of those Berserkers! 300 meters, 20 degrees up!"

They spun their guns and hit the beast. The Berserker teetered and hit the floor. It wasn't dead but it was incapable of moving. Using his zoom, Fulsome saw that dozens of Marines jumped on the Berserker and fired hundreds of rounds into the body and stabbed it with combat knives.

Fulsome felt unstoppable today. He had killed over a hundred enemies since he and his team were dropped nearly an hour ago by Albatross. Nothing could stop him now.

There was a deep rumbling.

"_What the hell is that_?" A frightened driver asked.

A few hundred meters ahead of him, he saw the hull _open up_. A few hull plates slid away to reveal a large compartment that was literally miles across. Inside, many dozens of completed fish-shaped starships fired their engines.

"What the fuck?"

"_They're launching the ships! They're launching the ships now_!"

The roof of the factory opened up. Sunlight streamed indoors and bathed the ships in bright blue. The engines fired up and made a very loud roar.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sonic screamed covering his ears.

"He knows! He knows he's losing the battle!" Chris yelled. "He's launching his ships now!"

"Is he high?" Callard asked. "They're not all finished!"

"He doesn't care!" Tails said, once again reinforcing Robotnik's thought process.

Sally started to stir on Chris' shoulder. "Ooohhhh...LT?"

"Right here, Highness."

"I think I passed out...How are you...?"

"Uh...At the moment, a little distressed."

"Leftenant! Behind you!" Maybell said.

Chris hit the deck and the British ODST fired a three round burst into the approaching robot. The machine crumpled and rolled a few feet.

"Are you OK to walk?"

"Mmmh...yeah. Put me down..."

Chris carefully set Sally upon her feet. She swayed slightly.

"Wow, I feel like I've gone ten rounds." she said surprised.

"You're actually healing quicker than I hypothesised." The Corpsman said scanning her as Sonic helped her walk along. "Either from the quality of the medicine or something else, I don't know."

Callard looked at the ascending ships. "We need to stall the launch!" he said urgently.

"_We may be able to help with that_." A gruff voice said over the COM.

"Name and Rank. Identify yourselves!" Chris ordered.

"_Master Sergeant Anthony Urso, 35th Mobian Regiment. We're Team Three, sir_."

"Team Three? They sent in another team?" Chris asked.

"_Yes sir, we're your backup. We may also be able to stall the launch_."

"Describe, and _quickly_ Master Sergeant!"

"_Well, we seem to be inside some sort of communications chamber, separate from what Chan found. I think it's a 'call center' if you will. Judging from the callsigns, I think they're the ships talking to each other through binary code_."

"What happens if you turn it off?" Chris asked.

"_My guess, mass hysteria, and disorganization within the fleet. This thing's temporary! It isn't even bolted in!_"

"Don't waste any more time, Sergeant! Blow that shit up!"

"_Copy. Get clear, soldiers!_" He shouted to his men.

There was a _boom_ over the COM and suddenly the ships stopped their ascent.

"_It's down. Can you see the effects_?"

"Yeah. The ships are confused. They don't know what to do since they never installed any COMs yet."

"_Then our job here is done. We'll keep looking for stuff to break!_"

"Wait, Sergeant! You didn't happen to find some Roboticized ODSTs?"

Urso sighed sadly over the COM. "_Negative Lieutenant. We didn't see anyone._"

"Well...if you do, is it possible to have them airlifted?"

"_Sir, you have my word as a Royal Marine that if we find them, we will get them out of here_."

"Thank you, Sergeant. Good luck. Vennettilli out."

Now with the burden of Sally's weight on his shoulder, he could run much faster now. He nearly tackled a robot which even surprised him. He slammed his knife into its face until it stopped moving.

"Easy, tiger." Sally said in a small voice.

Chris rubbed his face and discovered that a large bit of fluid was splashed on his face. "Shadow, where are we in terms of the door control?"

Shadow closed his eyes and thought. "We're on the right level. I think it's that building over there!"

"Marines, I'm dropping a NAV point on that building! You four, go left; and you three go right. Everyone else, go down center."

The catwalks deviated away from each other here. The Marines split up. Callard led the team on the left and Rico led the right. The building was farther than they thought, but full alert had not been issued by Robotnik. Did he just not care or was he leading them into a trap? Unfortunately, the adrenaline from the past few minutes drove this thought out of their minds. The only thing they could think about was closing these doors thus preventing Julian from launching the ships.

Shadow looked at the ships as they rose. "I never thought it would work."

Chris actually stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"Sorry. Eggman's enhanced all of these ships with the Chaos Emeralds that he has."

"To what extent?" Sally asked starting to gain some more color to her eyes.

Shadow paused for a second. "I don't know."

"Hey! How the _fuck_ did you manage to be a CO with such a short attention span?" Sonic yelled from farther down the walkway.

Chris bit his tongue. Sometimes he really got sidtracked. Not one of his better features.

"Marines, no-one stops until we reach that control room. _MOVE OUT_!"

"_This is Harper. We've detected enemy ships emerging from the hanger. Can you confirm Colonel?_"

"I confirm, Commander! About ten ships so far!"

"_Alright. Hang on, sir. We'll move into weapons range_."

One of their Boomers blew out an actuator on their legs and fell to the ground, the pilot scrambling from her cockpit towards their lines.

"Just be careful, Harper."

"_On entry burn. You should be seeing us now_."

Three fiery streaks appeared in the sky. The _Yuri_, _Anehiem_ and _Ganymede_ were in a delta formation ploughing through the atmosphere towards their location.

"_Targets in range, _Yuri_._" One of the officers aboard the _Ganymede_ said.

"_Copy. Lining up for the shot_..._Open fire_!"

The MAC Cannons aboard the three frigates opened up on the ships. Depleted Uranium-Tungsten rounds weighing upwards of 700 tons each were accelerated to half the spead of light and towards the ships. They impacted and a ball of flame enveloped them.

Inside the ship, the three squads were knocked to the ground and singed by the fire. Sally looked to the sky and saw the ships.

"We have backup!"

"Not for much longer." Shadow said gravely.

The Princess tried to make sense of this but saw the battleships' cannons charge up. Purple sparks dripped from the guns as they aimed towards Harper's battle group.

"The Chaos Emeralds!" She screeched.

"Oh God no..." Chris said.

"_Verify delivery of ordinance, Lieutenant Commander_." Harper ordered.

The _Anehiem _drifted closer to the ship. By the time the Lieutenant Commander saw what was beyond the cloud of magnetized dust, it was already too late.

"_Negative! Negative! Enemy ship is not destroyed! _NONE OF THEM ARE DESTROYED!"

A purple lance of energy intercepted the _Anehiem_ and bisected it. The two halves sputtered, smoking and fell down to the ground. Emergency thrusters worked hard for both ends but it was clear she was going down hard.

"_Pull back! Ganymede, get the hell out of h-_" The _Yuri Gagarin _took another bolt head-on and vanished in a thermonuclear explosion. A planar wave of superheated gas spread from whatever was left.

"_I'm bugging out!_" The helmsmen of the _Ganymede _said.

She got considerably farther, clearing the low cloud layer until another beam caught her. A long streak of smoke followed her towards the horizon.

"Attention all units! This is a retreat! We lost our air support! Fall back!"

"_FALL BACK! GET OUT NOW!_" One of the field commanders barked to the entire force. Tanks spun treads in the other direction, Battlemechs put it in full reverse and every able-bodied man and women ran for cover.

The battleships shot at anything that moved. Purple lances of Chaos-enhanced lasers blew pieces out of the hull and made men cartwheel in the air. Tanks were reduced to burning hulks and smaller vehicles were burned away. A few Battlemechs tried to cover the retreat but they met grim fates as the battleplate melted like wax under directed energy laser fire.

"_What the hell are they doing to us, sir_?" A Grizzly driver cried to Fulsome. "_What the hell is that stuff_?"

"_Flourine lasers! Why are they visible_?"

"Shut up! Put it in gear gentlemen! We need to get to cover!"

He shouted to his driver to crank it to the highest setting. He just narrowly avoided a laser that he felt was meant for him.

"Don't stop, don't look back! I'll see you at the Rally Point! Good luck people!"

"Stack up at that door! Let's go, let's go!" Vennettilli said. He slid up against the door to the gate control. The surviving Marines got ready to enter.

"Callard, prepare for forced entry."

The ODST nodded and placed a spoofer on the door. It hummed as it checked for combinations. Chris insisted that Tails stay back. If that door opened if he was there, he would get shot.

The spoofer chirped and the door slid open.

"Frag and clear!" The LT ordered. He and Callard tossed in a couple fragmentation grenades and waited for the boom. "Clear it out!"

The Marines filed in taking down damaged enemies with short controlled bursts. The guards seemed unarmed, which suggested that the ion engines of the ships acted as an ECM filter which blocked COMs, so they didn't know about the Marines.

"Room clear!" Rico bellowed. "Uh...wait one..." There was a small bang as Rico shot a guard hiding under a desk. "OK, now the room is clear."

"Look for a computer terminal. There has to be one in here."

"Hey, Human! Got one." Sonic called from the rear of the room.

"Tails, hack into it. Martinez, give him backup."

The Mobian and Hispanic Marine walked to the computer. It was holographic and showed a complex algorithmic string.

"What's this, you think it's the code for the roof?"

"No, too long. It looks like a security string. Hang on, let me cycle the command."

Miles tapped a few keyes in a line command. He tagged the door control and then told the system to close the gate. When he tapped the execute button, he was greeted with an Error.

"What the hell! Fatal Trap 404?" The fox exclaimed.

"Son of a bitch! It's been rerouted to the main bridge!" Martinez said checking for the issuing console.

"Robotnik!" Sally hissed. "I swear to God he's starting to get on my nerves."

Chris turned to Tails. "What can you do?"

Tails tapped in some line commands. "I can seal the doors to the CONYARD, block any incoming trams and try to cover our tracks. Oh, I can also insert a trojan virus into the system." He pulled a flash stick out of his pocket.

Chris nodded. "Do it, do it all."

Tails tapped on the keyboard and hit the enter key. "OK, we've sealed ourselves off from the fore section of the factory, and..." He took the stick and found a USB port to place it into. The stick blinked green showing that the virus was now uploaded.

"That'll keep them busy." He smirked.

"You know what we need to do now, right Human?" Knuckles asked.

"Damn straight. We're going to the bridge."

"Yeah baby!" Sonic crowed.

"Look out fat man, here we come." Sally added.

The marines gave a healthy "Oorah!"

Now the tough part began.


	25. Chapter 25: First to Fight

Chapter 25: The First to Fight

July 1st, 3234, 2104 hours

The Flying Factory

Former Carson City

/Begin Entry/

Entry for July 1st, my first recording in a little while. It's approximately...9:04 PM. Sumarizing our current situation, we are en route to the main bridge. This involves approaching another tram located on the starboard sector of this CONYARD. We need to move quickly. When we accessed the terminal, I'm sure that sent a ping to Robotnik. That 404 error didn't help things.

Status of crew: Nominal. Sally seems to be back up on her feet. She seems to be a quick healer, cutting the expected healing time in two. Still seems a little shaky. Excess radiation needs to be purged. Morale is slowly lowering I'm afraid; I don't want people to be depressed.

Not now.

/End Entry/

The heat of the CONYARD was still hot on their backs. They left the control center far behind and was hugging the starboard side of the hull. Some Marines were still shaky about the destruction of the whole battle group. One of the men, a young Corporal named Blaustein began to crack. the Corpsman carefully looked him over.

"Did you see? Right outta the fucking sky! They just...bang! They're all dead, all dead."

"You're in shock. You _need_ to clam down, Marine."

"The _fuck_ with that! I...I..." he then began to whimper.

Chris hung back. "Do you need a moment?"

"No. I'll get him stabilized. A little relaxant will calm him." The Corpsman took a small needle out of her pouch and flicked the tip off. She inserted it into Blaustein's arm and pushed the plunger. Almost immedietely Blaustein shook slightly and exhaled.

"You feeling good?"

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine."

Almost immedietely after he said that, a shot rang out and blew the top of Blaustein's head off. He stumbled back and fell over the railing to a death far below. The Marines took cover.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Joe Little asked.

"I can't see anything! There's lattice everywhere!" Sally reported.

Chris formulated a small plan. "Little! Up! Take a quick sweep and report back in.

Joe slid the scope off his sniper rifle and placed it over the railing. He sighted it slightly and picked out a few locations.

"OK, I have five hostiles. They've got a fix on us, probably thermal vision. They have big guns."

"How big?" Sonic asked.

A few bullet holes appeared near their position, these things punched through the metal rails.

"Big." Joe said.

"Come on! We need an idea!"

"Like what?" Sally asked. "We stay here, we're dead. We stand up, we're dead! Come on Human, use that evolved brain of yours!"

Chris couldn't shake the feeling that he had just been insulted.

"_Sir, you need help?_"

The Lieutenant recognized the voice. Urso from Team Three was following him. Chris tapped his COM set nestled around his ear.

"Yeah. Glad to hear from you Master Sergeant."

"_Uh huh. Sir, we are not far behind your position. I have two men as snipers. Call the shots, sir_."

Chris tapped his arm computer. "I'm uploading the locations of the hostiles. Be advised we do not have the line of sight, they may have moved."

"_We'll compensate_." Urso said.

Chris had to admire the Mobian's casualness, although this behavior was not typical of a field officer. Generally, the better you were, the more prone you are to harm. Chris was twitchy after the war, glancing behind him in case he was getting flanked. He did not take his job lightly anymore.

"_Alright, my boys have positive sight. Sir, you know they're using fifties_?"

"Machine guns?"

"_Sir, _assault rifles."

Suddenly the human was sick to his stomach. Generally fifty caliber rounds were used for machine guns or anti-material rifles. The fact that these were simple _assault rifles_ was gut-wrenching. A well placed .50 could tear a target apart. What would it be like with a 900 round per minute speed?

"Take the shot." He advised.

There were two small _cracks_ of sniper weapons. He had to assume that Urso's men had hits as they didn't report otherwise.

"_Two down. Little bastard is running for it_." One of the snipers reported.

"_No running!_" The second laughed as she took a shot. "_Tango down!_"

"_Good shot, good shot. Two left!_"

"_Copy I see them!_"

_crack_

"Boom! Headshot!"

"_Last one's taking potshots at us_."

"_Let him; range is too great_."

_crack_

There was silence over the channel. Not once since Team Three's intervention did the robots re-engage the squad .

"_See anything Helen_?"

"_Negative. Spectrum's clear. You're good LT_."

"Copy that! Thanks!"

"_We'll keep a good distance, sir._" Urso said. "_You keep going. We'll relay status to Team 4 which is somewhere behind us_."

"Team 4's responded?"

"_Yeah, ten minutes ago. Sergeant Bromwell's supposed to check in any minute now_."

"Alright. Again, thank you."

"_Don't mention it sir! Urso is out._"

The COM snapped off.

"Come on, move up as quiet as you can."

The weapons the robots dropped were special. The UNSC had experimented with large caliber assault rifles but the immense weight had made the concept impractical. Eggman however seemed to have worked some magic. These weapons were light, probably entirely made of a carbon nanotube weave, the same material used to create space elevator cables. Extremely durable and just as lightweight. The bullets were large yes, but it wasn't much heavier than a sniper rifle. Sally picked one up.

"Wow, these things are incredible!" She tossed one to Knuckles and one to Sonic.

"Hey! Don't give me those things!" The hedghehog complained.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you don't like guns." Chris said yanking the weapon from his hand. "More for me." Chris turned to the rest of the Marines "The rest of these are samples for the spooks. Nobody touches them, clear?"

There were a few groans from the Marines but they agreed, albiet grudgingly.

"Found some ammo." Sally said looking in some pouches on the robots' utility belts. The princess tossed the boxes of .50 BMG ammo to the Lieutenant and Knuckles. Tails gripped his stungun tighter. He was not happy about the size of those bullets. They were as thick as his finger and as long as his hand.

"What sick twisted mind would make such a big gun?"

"Assault rifles that fire high caliber bullets? Now I _know_ I've heard this plot before."

"Focus..." Sonic said growling. "I'll check up ahead."

Sonic sprinted for a hundred feet but then came to a stop.

"Got a directory!" He called. "Tram is located roughly five hundred meters ahead! Whoa!" Rounds ricocheted off the metal walls. Sonic ran full tilt back to the group. "More of those fifty guys!"

Chris looked the strange gun over in his hand. He was unfamiliar with the look, but it shared some distinct features of ancient automatic shotguns that he glanced at during training. He checked the drum, which was about three-quarters full and yanked back on the cocking lever. A strong and satisfying _clack_ resonated from the internal mechanism.

"Lock and load. We need to get the drop on these guys."

Bishop pointed out, "How? They have heartbeat sensors!"

Chris noted this. "Sonic. You're playing rabbit (in a manner of speaking). When I give the signal, run as fast as your fucking legs can carry you!"

"Yeah, you got it." He said nodding.

_Feet don't fail me now_! He thought to himself.

"Go!" Chris shouted.

Sonic blasted from the spot, running at a speed that would shame an Olympian. The robots verified what they were looking at and aimd at him. He _was_ the prime target after all. When they were shooting at Sonic, they were presenting themselves to be shot.

Chris took aim on the commander, a robot easily recognizable with a death's head. This achieved the desired effect on the young human but he nevertheless kept his aim. He fired without thinking.

The force of the fifty caliber round going off rammed the stock into his shoulder at a speed of nearly thirty miles an hour. He heard a sick mix between a _crack_ and a _pop_ as his right arm separated from his socket. He grunted in pain and dropped the gun.

"Medic!" He screeched as he gripped his shoulder.

Sally saw this and braced properly. She got a noticable kickback but managed to take down the leader. The other robots kept the fire. One of the Marines was hit by the round and lost an arm, which he died from immedietely.

"Grenade up!" Callard called as he tossed a frag.

The spherical explosive detonated and blew the remaining robots off the catwalks.

The Corpsman looked Chris over.

"OK, dislocated shoulder. Hold still. This may hurt; grit your teeth."

Chris did as told as she slotted the arm back in place. The feeling was painful.

"What?" Tails said half surprised half disappointed. "No advanced medical treatment?"

The Lieutenant rotated his newly-fixed arm. "Hey, they have a saying in New York: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'" He got back up and plucked his Desert Eagle from the holster. He inserted a magazine of magnum rounds and racked the slide.

"Hey! What about the rifle?" Sally asked pointing to the fifty cal.

"I ain't touching that thing again!" The Lieutenant said as if the thing was now taboo.

Knukles and Sal continued their use though. gigantic fifty caliber shell casings ejected from the gun and made deep brassy pings as they hit the metal of the catwalk. Sally's bolt shot forward.

"I'm out!" She said dropping into cover and grabbing the magazine. She tossed it away and inserted another fairly quickly despite the size. She cocked the gun and got back into the action. She completed this action in less than four seconds.

Callard ordered the men, "Marines! Split into two groups! Each one flanks the enemy from the left and the right! Do it people!"

The soldiers did as told. Two teams split and hid behind the pillars. The Mobians with the fifties drew the aggro. Since they had the bigger guns, the robots paid more attention to them.

"_They have their backs to us_." Rico said on the other side of the room.

"Fire when ready."

The Marines poured fire on the unarmored robots. They seemingly danced as they sucked up lead. They fell and clanked on the floor.

"_Tangoes down_."

"_Hang on, one's still moving_."

Bishop shot the straggler in the head. It spat sparks and died.

"_Bugger ain't moving no more!_"

Chris got up. He rotated his shoulder still in slight pain. "Good work everyone. Casualties?"

"Just Blaustein and Quincy."

"Alright. It could have been much worse. Where's that tram?"

"Just a little this way." Little reported.

"OK, ODSTs, take point." he ordered.

The group moved farther down the hall until they came to an identical tram station. There were no guards here. There was once an ancient saying that was only in the minds of a few Marines: '_If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be_.' That was what was going through their minds.

"I don't like this." One of them said.

The tram doors silently opened.

"Alright...everyone in...carefully."

Tails did a quick scan and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not reading any detonation codes or infrared signatures. The place isn't mined or has any guns traced on it."

"Regardless, keep an eye open."

The tram was similar to the other one, only this one seemed more for Officers. The seats were padded for their intended future occupants, there were cup holders, and even video screens. They were blank at the moment but they did show the logo of Eggman, the smiling skull-like image that surrounded them on all sides.

"Ugh...get this crate moving." Sally insisted.

Tails ran to the central controls. He checked the route the car would follow. "OK, according to this route, the tram should bring us right to the Command Deck."

"Makes my life a hell of a lot easier." Rico said leaning back on the padded seats.

The car lurched forward.

"Uh...be advised everyone, we might have a slight incline-"

Everyone suddenly stumbled as the tram started to climb. A few near the back actually fell.

"_Attention, you are entering...Command Deck. Please be patient for a message from our leader._"

"No problem, it does this all the time." Shadow said.

"_Greetings my fellow hostile boarders_."

"Or not..."

"_I bid you welcome to my humble abode_."

Julian's face appeared on _all_ of the viewscreens.

"_I admit you've given me quite a run. I was taken off guard from that first squad. I thought that was you brats. Hmph. I thought they were the best of the best_. _Now...who's wearing the pants in this outfit..._"

Robotnik took a few glances around the tram and then stopped.

"_Oho! A Lightswitch! Lieutenant!_' Robotnik snapped off a horrible exaggerated salute. It made Chris' blood boil to see him abusing this.

"_I am impressed by your resolve, boy. You've gotten far. That diversion upstairs got me off balance. Rest assured I will not make the same mistake again_!" He tapped the intercom and spoke into a microphone. "_Attention all operating units, this is your captain speaking! It appears that we have a couple of rats aboard. All units are to divert operations and intercept at Command Deck Junction. Robotnik out!" _

He gave a sweet yet deadly smile to the Marines. "_Won't this be fun_!"

Sally shot the fifty caliber assault rifle until the clip ran dry. She blew out every single video screen and reduced them to smoking scraps. By the time she was done, there was only the whisper-quiet gliding of the tram's wheels, and the floor was filled with brass casings.

Chris grabbed the front of her bulletproof vest and yanked her to within a centimeter of him. "Have you gone _insane_?!"

She stammered. She was afraid, afraid that this human would kill her. It was one of those times that you respected your 'elders'. "Wh...what did I do?"

"Fired a fifty caliber weapon inside a space that has the equivilant area of a large van!" He helt up one of the casings. "These things would have ricocheted off the walls until they hit us!"

"Don't remind me." Someone said. Sonic was staring at a spot between his legs where a deflected bullet impacted _just five centimeters from his pelvis_.

"Case in point." Chris said. "Congratulations princess, you almost commited third degree manslaughter.

"_I'M SORRY!_" She said.

"Sorry don't mean much here, highness!"

Sally sighed in defeat and sat on one of the couches and hid her face.

"Hey," Callard said. "Sorry to break up this little spiel here but we just passed the nine-klick marker. We're getting bloody close to the Command Junction."

It was a crack in the window that caught the Lieutenant's attention. "Knuckles...can you break this window?"

"A more appropriate question is can I _not_ break it."

"Do what you do best."

Knuckles wound up a punch and sent it onto the weakened crack. The window shattered in a thousand pieces and a wind cut through the tram.

"Miles, slow this thing down!"

Tails nodded and ran to the forward control panel. He plugged in his spoofer and ran through the subroutines.

"OK, good news and bad news!"

"What's the bad news?" The LT asked.

"I can't stop the tram. I'm locked out."

"What's the good news?"

"I can slow us down to a degree."

"Well don't hold back, how slow can you do it?"

"Fifteen miles per hour."

"OK, we might get a couple scratches. Knuckles, get the other windows."

The echidna punched out the other windows, the sharp digging spikes fitted on the end of his gloves shattering the glass. The markers outside the tram went by slower, but still a fair bit fast.

"OK, watch your step, roll as soon as you land!" Chris ordered. "Four men up! Who's ready?" Vennettilli extended a hand to Sally, but she didn't respond. She gave a quick look to Chris that said, 'Fuck you'. Chris then averted his eyes. Sonic, you have good legs?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. You, Shadow, Knuckles and Callard go first."

Tails called from the front, "What about me?"

"You need to stay and keep the brakes on! Don't worry, I'll take care of it!"

The fox nodded. He really placed a lot of trust in this human.

"Alright! Go, go, _GO!_"

They all vaulted over the broken windows and landed in between the rails on a service walkway.

They rolled as they were told and had their weapons up. Sonic basically hid behind Knuckles as he really had no form of protection save for the M6 that was on his holster. He didn't need it anyway. This hallway was as quiet as a graveyard.

This was _exactly_ what worried Callard. As an ODST, he had had many vacuum insertions as part of the job. More than once he had heard the sound of silence. "Stay _alert_." He whispered. "Report any noises."

Up the tunnel, they saw other Marines jump from the tram. They also rolled to absorb impact.

Chris saw the next group jump from the tram. It consisted of Rico, Little and the Corpsman. he turned around to see that only he, the princess, and Miles were the only ones in the tram. "Alright, lets get while the getting's good. We're _way _too close to that junction.

He walked over to Sally and extended his hand again. "Your highness, _are you ready to go_?" She sniffled a little, and uncovered her face. The fur around her eyes was damp.

_Did you make her cry? Oh, you are a real jackass, C. _

She didn't take the hand and walked to the window. Without another word, she flipped the Lieutenant off and _leapt backwards through the window_. With the grace of a professional gymnyst, she did a mid-air somersault and landed on her feet without wavering.

Chris' mouth was agape. "Tails, for a real bitch, she has a fine pair of brass balls on her. I could _never _do that."

Tails kept an eye on the display. "Yeah, she has her ups and downs."

"Are you ready?" Chris asked.

Tails sighed sadly. "You know, once I unplug this thing, the tram is gonna speed up again, right?"

"I understand. The sooner, the better. Come on, kid. Let's get a move on."

Tails nodded and uclipped the spoofer. "Lets go."

The two felt the deck shift underneath their feet. They just kicked it into high gear. Chris helped Tails onto the precipice of the window. The fox looked to the ground which was speeding by. "Should I use my tails?"

"If you want to overshoot and catch the 10:15 going in the opposite direction, sure. Just do as I said."

"I...I don't know if I can do it!"

Chris caught something coming up the tunnel.

"_TAILS! PILLAR!_"

He gave the fox a good shove in the back and sent him yelping out of the tram. He did this just in time as a large steel pillar went right past him. If Tails had not been pushed, they would spend hours scraping him off the side of it. Not pretty. This didn't happen though; he did just as the Lieutenant wanted and rolled on impact. "Atta boy."

He realized the position he was in.

"Oh hell..."

That pillar marked his passage into the Command Junction, an oval-shaped room with multiple tram stations going in multiple directions. He tapped his COM set and hastily said, "Attention everyone recieving this message. I will not be able to exfil in time. I am in the Command Junction and ready to give myself up, and for Christ's sake, _nobody_ had better come for me!"

"_Attention Marines, place your weapons on the floor and put your hands on your head!_"

Chris took his cap off and flattened his hair.

_Time to meet my public_.

"Is he _serious_?" Sally asked.

"Think so. Has he finally snapped?" Callard asked.

"Good riddance." Sonic muttered before someone gave him a whack in the back of the head.

"We need to find a way to get him." Tails said. "I...kinda owe him."

Callard laughed. "Oh, you son of a bitch, you."

Bishop was confused. "Mind filling me in here?"

"He's the only one in that tram. They're going to bring him to the big boss. That's where the master controls are. Smart."

"He's still not going to be able to do this on his own." Knuckles said.

"Wanna put some money on that?" The sergeant asked.

the echidna huffed in amusement. "As a matter of fact, I think I may take your word for it."

Callard nodded. "As of this moment, I am commanding officer of this squad with the possible exception of Her Highness if she demands it."

"You have more experience than I do, Human."

"You heard the lady! Let's find a way onto that bridge! _Oorah?_

"_OORAH!_"

Chris set his pistol and his assault rifle on the floor of the tram. He also unclipped his Combat Knife and whatever grenades he had left. A couple of tiny robots rolled forward and grabbed his weapons.

"_Hands up._"

Chris complied and placed his hands firmly on his head.

"_Walk towards us, keep them where we can see them_."

Once out of the tram, Chris could see around thirty robots, half of them being fifty caliber riflemen and two snipers were waiting. If he so much as coughed, he's be Swiss cheese in two seconds.

"_Where are the others_?" Came a voice. He wasn't entirely sure which robot it was coming from.

"It's just me."

"_Corporal, zap him_."

The Lieutenant felt a burning pain in his side. A robot had hit him with a stun baton.

He fell to his knees slightly shivering as the current worked through him.

"_Up_."

He was grasped around the arms and brought down the hall. He saw the commander, a robot with a death's head faceplate. Chris shivered as he set his eyes on the faceplate, knowing that this particular unit had to be a shock trooper of sorts. He then averted his eyes.

The robot gave itse version of a chuckle.

"_Like it_?"

"Hate it."

"_That's alright, you worm. You'll get yours_."

Chris looked past the fact that he was having an extensive conversation with a _robot_.

The elevator doors slid open and shut as they walked in. There was one robot on each side of him, staring into space.

Chris was smiling though. Even though he had literally walked into his own imprisonment, he knew one thing that would give him the edge in this situation:

_They forgot to cuff him!_


	26. Chapter 26: The Bridge Tower

Chapter 26: The Bridge

July 1st, 3234, 2204 hours

Flying Factory

Former Carson City

The robots stood at equal distances from him. The Lieutenant stood between them and looked towards the closed doors, acting as if nothing was wrong. The guns they had were just carbines, not the monstrous fifties that the elite soldier carried.

Needless to say though, if those things were shot at him in such close quarters, he would be pasted all over the walls. He would need to be quick, he would need to be efficient, and wih a gulp, he realized he would need some luck as well.

"Hey, jackass."

One of the robots wheeled around. "What?"

"First rule of taking POWs: always cuff your enemy before taking them into custody!"

He slipped into Conditioned Awareness. He went with his first instinct and grabbed he first robot's carbine. Yanking it out of one hand, he forced it onto its faceplate and shot a burst of rounds. In slow motion, bits of metal flung off its plate and fuild blasted out in a somewhat pretty arc.

He dropped the carbine and punched the opposite drone. It wasn't smart as the only thing he felt was pain and in his hand. He also dropped out of Conditioned Awareness.

Now completely vulnerable, he pounced quickly. While his hand still throbbed, he kicked the robot into the door, picked up the gun. Pulling the trigger as hard as he could, he sprayed the robot with all the rounds in the magazine. It danced as it soaked up the fire. When he heard the _click_ of an empty gun, the tin can was nearly blown away. It stood, dead against the wall. The door _pinged_ and it fell through the now open portal.

Scanning the hall, he plucked a few more magazines.

_Where the hell is the eject button_?

It took him half a minute to find it. It was located right behind the trigger. Pressing it, the magazine popped out of the side of the gun. Understanding the concept now, he slid another rectangular clip into the slot and racked the slide. The ammunition counter reset.

_Ready to rock and roll_

He may have been a front-line Marine, he had some concept of stealth. Slinking from whatever dark corner there was, he found the next one and tried not to make any noise. There was clunking down the hall. With a gulp, he recognized these as the fifty troopers.

"Sweep area and check in every two minutes." The team leader droned.

"Roger." The two agreed in monotoned voices.

The leader added, "He has to be here somewhere."

he held his breath. They walked right past him. Realizing that there would be no real reason to enage these guys other than attracting attention, he carefully snuck off, but the sole of his boot hit a corner and they whipped around and promptly started firing.

The .50 bullets impacted on the wall behind him creating deep dimples in the steel. Hiding around the corner, he could see on his motion sensor that they were just waiting there. Scanning, he saw a window. Perhaps he could make a small blowout. At a few miles above the ground, he could produce a small gust.

Placing the barrel ahead of the corner, squeezed off a three-round burst. The bullets splashed across the window, forming spiderweb cracks. The window didn't give though. He put three bursts around the edges of the a shot, the window shattered an a small hurricane blew for a half second.

The robots were thrown down the hall, rolling from the wind.

"_Warning, hull breach! Sealing rupture_."

A thick metal plate slid over the open window.

_Vacuum Protocols I guess. Looks like this baby was meant for space travel primarily_.

"_Pressure restored at... .5 bar._"

Before the soldiers got up, Chris nailed each one of them with a single round. Turning around, he saw a camera perched on one of the corners.

"If this camera gets sound Doc, listen and listen good: I'm coming for you, big boy. You've gone too far, and I'm sick and tired of hopping between universes to get you."

he waited for a second as the camera focused on him. Then, a tinny voice came from a small speaker on the camera.

"_Bring it on, boy_..."

Suddenly, Chris regretted his choice of words. He swapped magazines and scouted the hall ahead. For some reason, Eggman didn't call up the elevator from the Command Junction. Chris had to assume that the guys were fighting the robots downstairs and that he would be safe.

Then again, what if Robotnik had _purposely_ done this so that he would feel a false sense of security?

He needed to find a COM station to reestablish a link to his men. For all they knew, he _was_ a POW.

His GPS wasn't very strong here as he was buried under a thick hull of titanium metal and lead radiation coating, so all it did was give a nice fuzzy image. He snarled and turned off the device, only keeping on the COM and IR link so when he did find a terminal, he should be able to hack into it.

He rounded the corner and swept the hallway. No hostiles. He took a step forward and saw a gleam from a raised platform. He dropped just as he heard the gun go off. The bullet struck his backpack and ricocheted. A small bullet divot stood where it impacted.

he acted in a conservitive manner. Squeezing off small pulls of the trigger while strafing, he sent a steady yet slow stream of rounds towards the sniper. It fired again, this time, grazing his shoulder. The pain wasn't mind-numbing, just pestering, considering he had been shot in kneecap, oh _that_ was hell.

The sniper took three rounds to the chest but kept going. Chris saw the targeting laser but thanks more to luck, one of his bullets hit the robot's arm and caused the shot to go wide, allowing the Lieutenant to hit it with a head shot.

He slapped the release, watching the magazine spin to the floor and slapped a new one in. He realized that that was the last one on his belt.

_Last mag_.

He slotted that one in and yanked the lever, The sound of the bullet slotting into the chamber was satisfying. A small throb in his shoulder reminded him.

"Oh! Forgot about that."

He reached into his backpack and drew out some iodine, and a sterilized bandage. All UNSC soldiers had rudimentary training in medicine, but the fancy stuff, cubic centimeters, CT scans, Hell, _turn your head and cough_, that was for the Navy thank you very much.

He dripped some Iodine onto the wound and felt a small bite as the cleaning agent did its stuff. He didn't have any biofoam and besides, biofoam was used more for internal and serious injuries, not a _scrape_.

He grabbed the strip of dressing and wrapped it around the wound. He remembered words of wisom from the fort,

_Even a minor wound can have major consequences_.

Satisfied that his wound was tended, Chris shouldered his rifle and continued walking. He took the stairs to where the sniper was and took the gun. Chris was a natural marksman. He was comfortable with anything that could kill over a distance. The sniper rifle was bulky, had a rectangular muzzle brake and featured a powerful scope.

Chris checked the magazine

_.308, nearly full. That'll work_.

He slid the gun over his back and looked around for a directory. He hit paydirt when he saw a COM station. It was slightly situated in the walls.

The things didn't even have security measures in it. He was able to slip in easily.

_Please state the recieving party frequency_.

"E-band." Chris annunciated. He also keyed in the wavelength.

_Please be patient as connection is being established_.

Sally dropped a magazine from her rifle and reached to her utility belt to grab another. She gasped as she realized that there was nothing left on it.

"I'm out!" she yelled. "Does anybody have another mag?"

"Yeah, here!" Bishop said.

"No! The big rounds!"

"Oh...I got nothing..."

"Oh, _SON OF A BITCH!_"

She dropped the .50 caliber rifle and drew her .357 Python and spun the speedloader. There was no real tactical advantage to this, but it gave her more confidence, making her look more like the gunslingers of the Old West. She leapt from cover and squeezed off two shots. The FMJ magnum rounds tore through the cheap metal skins of the robots and made them tumble. She unloaded the other four into a waiting group of heavy gunners and then inserted more rounds.

Callard was hiding behind cover getting a piece of dressing wound over his arm where a bullet grazed him when his COM set beeped in his helmet. He tapped the side of his helmet and located the source of the COM. It was over ten stories above him in the central command spire.

_Oh you cheeky bastard! I knew it!_

"Talk to me, mate! What's going on?"

"_Thanks for picking up Jon! How's things going down there_?"

A grenade exploded near their position and showered them with metal. "Uh...not bad..."

"_Did Urso link up with you yet_?"

"Nah! Don't know where he is."

"_Fuck...alright, sound off on your squad status_."

"We lost Ketchem. He ate half a clip of fifty ammo. We still havent found his right arm."

"_Spare me the details, Sarge...I'm trapped up here. Eggman knows that I'm in his house. I have weapons but I have no way to reach you._"

"That could be problematic then, Lieutenant. S'far as I know we're also trapped here. The robots never seem to end. I think Robotnik's rerouting them from other sections of the ship."

"_OK, I'll see if I can open a door. This might take a little while but I think I can make it happen. Stand by._"

"Hang on, LT: Your COM signal might scramble if you get any farther away."

"_Better that than you guys being overwhelmed by fire. Hold your positions and wait for me to respond._"

"Yes sir!" Banks said and shut down the COM.

"Was that the Human?" Sally asked.

"I don't know, it gets tough when you label us as a species instead of individuals." Callard said blindfiring over the wall.

"Alright, _Vennettilli_, was that him?"

"Yeah, it was. Bloke's alright but he needs to find a way to open these doors."

"Oh that won't be hard."

"I don't think he has experience in Decoding."

Sally nodded her head understanding. "That might be a problem."

Tails slid behind the wall. "I nearly got shot out there!"

He hit the eject button on his X38. The spent battery was flung out of the stungun and he slotted in a new one with practiced speed thanks to his DI's constant nagging. "Plan?" he asked.

"We wait." Sally said.

"Oh that's wonderful..." Sonic groaned.

Just as soon as he shut off the COM, he realized and said to himself,

"Oh, I don't know how to decode a computer."

Well, that was an overstatement. He did have minor education in computer dycription, and his PDA also had some decoding software, but beyond that, he didn't feel that he could do anything major. He gathered his strength and set off for whatever he was looking for.

Since he had never seen the computer console in any sort of briefing, he could not set a NAV point and Robotnik had locked him out of the camera system. He tried accessing but recieved a low level electrical shock as a reward or trying. Shouldering his Carbine, he cautiously walked down the hall. keeping his gun sighted in case a robot popped up from around a corner.

Eggman sent another squad of troopers towards the Lieutenant. Using short controlled bursts, he nailed each one of the robots in sequence, aiming for the center of mass. These robots were not the best in the Doctor's arsenal. Perhaps he hoped to waste Chris' ammunition before he reached his objective.

The Bridge Tower had much more luxurious hallways. Some plants were in porcelain pots in corners, water features reminescient of Japanese Zen gardens. He even stopped to view a painting that looked disturbingly like Napolean Bounaparte with his horse over the field of battle, only the legendary French general was replaced by Robotnik, and the horse was roboticized. Chris shuddered and moved on.

"_Like my painting? It was made specially for me!_"

_I can believe that. What did you do with the artist after?_

"Quit screwing with my head, doc. Why don't you just kill me already?"

"_You're too much amusement, boy. I can't afford to just off you right here and now. We could have the time of our lives; the scientist watching the rat run the gauntlet._"

"There's just one problem with your metaphor."

"_And what's that?_"

"The rat didn't have fully automatic weapons."

"_Touche. However I doubt that they will be utterly useless in here. From where I'm sitting, I feel I have a distinct advantage._"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Chris felt that he was getting close to that server because three more squads were in to intercept him, except this time they were heavy gunners. They carried several Light Machine Guns that fired .30 caliber ammunition. Still not as powerful as the demonic fifties but with all the bite of a standard issue assault rifle.

He decided that he needed to employ geurilla warfare against these robots. He could tell that Robotnik was testing him but once he conquered these guys, he felt that he would be hedging his bets. Looking into his backpack, he searched for whatever he could use.

_Hmm...a suppressor. Maybe that will work._

Now, as any educated soldier would know, a silencer was the incorrect name for this tool. It was a suppressor. A suppressor _did_ cut down the noise of a gunshot, but their major function was to prevent the muzzle flash of a weapon from being noticed by an enemy. The fact that he was using supersonic ammunition didn't help his case either. This was why one always hears a crack whenever a gun is shot, because the bullet immedietely exceeds the speed of sound. 

However, if one could block that little _thwp_ with a larger sound of higher volume, he could remain hidden. Scouting around for a larger sound. Unsatisfied, he found an air vent and smashed it with his carbine until it produced a wheezing sound which filled the entire hallway. Snickering to himself somewhat childishly, he looked for a good place to hide. A few yards away from the air vent, he hid within a plant. His only hope was to assume these gunners didn't have any thermal vision.

Not a moment too soon. As soon as he hid himself, he heard the clicking of gears and feet. A fireteam of three machine gunners advanced up the corridor. He heard some vocal chatter but nothing except status warnings. If he kept still, perhaps they wouldn't notice. He breathed a sigh of relief as they went on to inspect the broken vent. With their backs turned, he stepped out and squeezed off three rounds with his Carbine. The rifle barked thrice. The two robots fell without even knowing what was going on, but the leader whirled around. A 7.62mm round splashed against his armor. He fet the wind knocked out of him but be placed a shot into its chest. The energy transfer knocked it off balance where it sprayed the rest of its rounds into the ceiling.

Chris ejected his magazine and placed it on his belt. Picking up a new full mag, he slotted it into the gun and levelled it.

"_Attention all units, we have a hostile on Executive Deck 25 Fore. Use all available units to apprehend. If he resists arrest, you have authorization to terminate the Marine. Oh and get the Berserkers oiled up in case he fights back. Out_."

Chris cracked some vertebrae in his neck.

"Bring it on you fat bastard."

"We're running out of ammo!" Callard barked. "Who has an extra mag?"

"I'm dry!" Little called placing his last 14.5mm magazine into his Anti Materiel Rifle.

"I've got nothing!" Bishop shouted.

The Medic called, "Got a spare here! Hendrickson ain't gonna need it anymore..."

The Corpsman tossed the mag to Callard who caught it and slipped it into his gun. Before the ammo counter refreshed, he was already firing caps off.

Another wave of enemies had come to relieve the already beaten down robots, and worse, they seemed to have their shock troops out. The fifteen foot high berserkers armed with twin miniguns.

"Holy shit..." Sally said, her mouth dropping.

"GET DOWN!" Callard barked.

The Marines dropped, barely hitting the metal floor in time.

The miniguns sounded like a sustained rumble as hundreds of rounds pinged off their cover, chipping it away slowly.

"Grenade o-" A Marine said arming the weapon. Before he could finish he ate twenty rounds and half his face was blown away.

"Grenade! It's live!" A Sergeant yelled.

The grenade went off and showered the Marines with shrapnel. Sonic swayed.

"Ough...I don't feel so good."

Knuckles nearly gasped. "The hell you are! You're bleeding!"

Sonic looked shakily on his abdomen. Red Fluid was dripping out of an area that wasn't covered by his armor. The world suddenly went fuzzy. "Well look at that..." Then he was on the ground, staring at the shrapnel wound as if it were a ghost.

"Corpsman! We need a corpsman!" A nearby Marine called. "Casualty!"

The Medic ducked and ran over.

"Wh...what's wrong with him?" Knuckles asked.

"Catatonic shock. He's lost touch with reality because of his wound. I bet he's just scared of his own blood."

"Well is it fixable?" Knuckles asked.

"It's just a flesh wound. Regardless he's a liability if he keeps oogling at it like a dunce. Remove his armor for me."

A stray bullet ricochet just a few feet from them.

"Work fast!" The Medic urged.

"Got FOF tags on my GPS here, Callard!" Sally said looking at her arm.

"Looks like Team 3!"

Behind them, a small group of Mobians dressed in black uniforms met up with them. At the lead was an athletic looking bear standing half a head taller than Callard.

"Urso, right?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Thank _Jesus_ you showed up, mate! We've been stuck here for almost an hour."

"We had to mop up what you've spilt on the way here. You owe me a beer, human. We saved your asses with the ship servers."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You got some ammo on you, mate?"

"Yeah, a pack-full. Take some." Urso handed a few magazines of MA5 Ammo to Callard which he tossed to some other men.

"How's the battle going upstairs?"

"Barely moving. The UNSC's barely advancing but the tinnies are holding their ground."

"So why not just nuke the ship from orbit?"

"Orders were to try and disable the ship, not destroy it." Urso growled. "The King has priority authority here. Tier 1 assets on this bucket."

"Chaos Emeralds." Tails said.

"Yeah, dead on. Where's the LT?"

"Trying to get this door open. We had to sneak him in as a POW." Sally explained.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes, I just spoke to him a few minutes ago."

"Alright. Until we get that signal, we hold the line. We have enough rounds for two hours of continuous fire."

"Where's Team 4?"

"They're right behind us, don't worry."

"OK, now we just need to cover the wound with a dressing. Please apply pressure to his wound."

Knuckles kneeded the wound. The Corpsman placed a sticky bandage over it. He took a syringe out of his pouch and flicked off the tap. Tapping the needle twice he pushed the plunger down into Sonic's side. "Basic Relaxant Cocktail. Near instantanious. He's going to feel "nice" for the next twenty minutes."

Sonic at once sat up. "Oh...I feel...not too bad..."

"That's because you're feeling the effects of a relaxant currently circulating in your system. Don't move too much, you're hurt."

The hedgehog looked at the bleeding. "Oh...right... and then passed out.

"Well, whatever floats my boat." The medic said.

Knuckles gave a look around and said, "Where's Shadow!?"

Chris ejected the near-spent magazine from his carbine. The grip was sweaty after constant grip, and he had lost all feeling in his fingers from constant firing. There was no shortage of ammunition as every time he dropped a robot, he retrieved three more rectangular magazines. He had fended off another wave of robots. He lost count of how many he sent after him. He managed this by keeping the high ground. He managed to find a stairway which led to a few balconies that overlooked an atrium where the robots kept on coming in, but when the Lieutenant heard rumbling and saw that the robots were giving something a wide berth, he knew why the hallways were so large: security detail.

In the distance, Chris saw a huge machine and instantly recognized the berserker like he saw in Kayro. Even at this distance, he saw the miniguns starting to spin. A few tracers were visible but the majority of shots went wide. A few were too close for comfort. Chris unslung his sniper rifle and sighted it, trying to ignore the rounds splashing around him. Slipping into Bullet Time, he exhaled and aimed for the single red eye. He pulled the trigger and heard an unusual rifle crack. It sounded more like a crack and a hiss really.

The bullet was a blur, even in Bullet Time it was too tough to track. It was a direct hit, sending spiderweb cracks all over the mech's visor. Another round and he knew that he hit something sensetive. The eye went out and the berserker started to wobble. Still spraying rounds, it lost its footing and fell to the ground, barely moving.

"_IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, MOTHERFUCKER?_"

The whirling of charging miniguns sounded behind him. He was so focused on taking down one berserker that he ignored the one coming up behind him. He was looking straight into its red eye and went pale. Then, it fell in front of him flat on its face. He was still gripping the gun in his hands with white knuckles. When the robot stopped moving only then did he look for his savior.

He found him.

Shadow the Hedgheog was on a high rafter with Tails' sparking X-38 in his hands. He looked at Chris and nodded his head. Shadow leapt from the rafter, flipped once in the air, and landed, something that was sure to break Chris' bones. The rafter was over fifty feet up off the floor.

"My hero!" Chris said with a small smile. Truth be told he was still shaky from staring down a gun barrel.

"Are you alright, Human?"

"I'm breathing. A little shallow breathing."

"I see. Your vest took a bullet."

The actual crushed slug was wedged into his vest, just left of an ammo pouch.

"Truth be told I'm a little surprised that you lasted this long."

"I am too. Hey, you got any ammo?"

"For your Carbine? No."

"Shit. We need to get out of here. You're the mole! You know where this damned computer room is?"

"Yes. Follow me. I know the codes to get in and I know the password to get you into the computers." He sprinted off.

"Hey Jackass! Us mere mortals can't all run as fast as you!"

Shadow ran back. "Sorry."

"The hell you are!"

"Listen, Robotnik can't know I'm involved. I'll give you the code but you need to do this yourself. I'll be close."

They came to a door that was fashioned similar to a sea ship's, a large metal pressure wheel sealed the computer center from the rest of the ship.

"What's the code?"

"Hyperion 6614."

Chris entered the code. The door light tinged green and the door unlocked.

"What's the significance of Hyperion?"

"Roman Sun God. Dragged the sun across the sky gracefully in a chariot. Eggman will be close to a god if he gets his hands on the Emeralds. Everything the sun touches will belong to him. But I don't know, I'm not a mythologist."

"Could have fooled me." The LT said opening the door.

The Computer room was a roughly spherical room with a large server in the center. It was very hot in this room, suggesting that it wasn't air conditioned. Terminals lined the room and covered the walls.

"Which one is the security terminal?"

"Five o' clock."

He saw it.

"Thanks. What's the password?"

"IWillBuildMyEmpire."

"Fucking ego'd-up, genocidal, meglomaniac. Freud would have a field day on this guy."

"Alright. I have to go. Good luck, Human. I'll be watching."

With that, Shadow sped out the door. Then there was silence save for the chirps and beeps of computers and status icons.

Chris cracked his knuckles and typed in the password.

-_WELCOME DOCTOR_-

_Pay dirt_.

Quickly navigating the interface, he found the security icon and he simply had to locate the last command given to lock down a sector, which was the Executive Junction a few decks down. Tapping the icon twice, a line command scrolled by.

'_Security Lockdown Lifted_' it said in green lettering.

The door to the lift slid open, revealing the elevator shaft with two dead robots.

"Well I'll be damned, the bloke did it!" Bishop said.

"182nd, gotta love those boys." Callard said grinning. "OK Marines! Door's open! Let's hustle ladies!"

The men gave cheers of relief as they made ready to run for it.

"Martinez, pop chaff! Scramble their sensors!"

The ODST nodded and tossed a grenade over their cover.

Small aluminum strips filled the air and everyone's HUDs went fuzzy. This would be the diversion they needed.

"Sally, Miles, Freddy, Sonic and Knuckles, ready-up!"

The Medic had Sonic's arm draped over his shoulder.

"Ready? COVERING FIRE!"

The Marines sprayed some random rounds into the disoriented robots. Corpsman Freddy led the charge as he made it quickly to the elevator. Using a small pistol on his belt, he stood at the ready in case anyone came close.

Sally followed Miles, forming a protective shield in front of him. She tried hard not to increase aggro as she too made it to the lift. Knuckles just booked it, not looking back.

"_We're clear_." Sally said into her COM.

"Roger that!" Callard said. "Bishop, Little, Martinez, Maybell, Urso! Ready-up!"

The second group was ready to roll.

"Clear? COVERING FIRE!"

They repeated this process over and over again until there was nobody but Callard and a few other Marines brave enough to hold the line.

"Out of ammo!" The Marine to his left said, dropping to reload.

"Come on! We're done!"

"Heavy support! Shit _THEY GOT TANKS!_"

The Marine was right. The door to the tram tracks opened and twin tanks appeared and started firing machine guns.

"IGNORE THEM! COME ON MARINE, HAUL YOUR ASS!"

Amazingly, all of them made it to the lift

"CLOSE THE DOOR! _CLOSE IT, CLOSE IT!_" Callard said damn-near maniacly.

"Hang on!" Tails said looking at the keypad. "I'm being locked out! I need to bypass it!"

"Hurry up..."

"That's it! I got it!"

He tapped in Executive Deck 25, where he pinned the reactivation code.

"Going up..." Sally said as the doors closed.

There was some silence for a second but it was broken when Sonic (still under the influence of the relaxant) said, "hey, it's pretty cramped in here, don't nobody try anything..." to the smiles of a few men. This day was pretty taxing on them.

Chris was about to cover his tracks when he heard an angered voice come from the screens all around him.

"_You little _whelp_! You just _couldn't_ let me win, could you_?"

"My job is to shut you down, Doctor."

"_Oho, you got spunk kid! I like that in a person. There's always a spot as my advisor._"

"Not even going to consider it. You've killed too many of my brothers."

"_Please reconsider. I know all about you, son. You're a war hero, fresh from the camps yet you won enough ribbons to knit a sweater from, enough medals to last a lifetime, on your way to Captain. I could use a man like you to lead my army._"

He walked to a screen. "_Not_. _Interested_."

Eggman's face lost the smile and it went seriously again.

"_Very well. I know a lost cause when I see one_ (Chris rolled his eyes)_. I have a surprise for you_."

A door opened up and a figure clunked in. It wasn't a robot, not really. Chris shivered. It seemed Human.

It was in a manner of speaking.

This figure stopped and was illuminated. A mettalic black armor signified that he used to be an ODST, although he seemed robotic.

"_Meet the former Corporal Lee Thomas of the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps. He used to be known as "Spike" to his friends. Poor Mister Thomas here was separated from his team and one of my men found him hiding in a Jeffries corridor. He was willingly transformed weren't you, Thomas_?"

The figure spoke as if it was a robot talking, although he only saw the helmet move. "I...I didn't have a choice! They would have killed me otherwise, or made me into a statue!"

"It's OK, Thomas, I'm here to help..."

Thomas drew a robot Carbine. "You stay away from me! The fucking _Corps_ did this to me! They sent me here and let _this _happen to me!"

"Thomas, I'm here to help. We can get scientists to help you -"

"I _CAN'T DO ANYTHING_! Except..." The roboticized Thomas looked at Eggman. "Except, he said he'd help me. He'd fix me if I brought you all to him."

"_Just kill him now, son. Then I'll fix you_."

"He's _lying_ Trooper! There's no way to fix you without proper medical study. _I AM GIVING YOU AN ORDER, TROOPER! PUT DOWN THE GUN!_"

"_Kill him Thomas!_"

The former ODST gripped his Carbine and shouldered it.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. It's the only way I can live."

That's when Chris saw that there was only one way to end this: He would have to kill a UNSC Marine; he would have to kill Thomas. 


	27. Chapter 27: The Inner Sanctum

Chapter 27: The Inner Sanctum

July 1st, 3234, 2345 hours

Flying Factory, Fore Deck

Former Carson City

Colonel Lionel Fulsome took a deep drag on the cigarette he had in his mouth. He had only been a recreational smoker ever since his late teens, showing a remarkable ability to keep himself from getting addicted. The past few days however ever since he had seen the briefing on this guy and what these Emeralds could do, he had found himself lighting up a whole lot more than usual.

_Nasty habit_, he thought to himself. He exhaled through his nose, tossing the butt into a rising air current. The still smoking fag end was blasted away, an effective trash system.

Fulsome was dressed in standard Marine BDU or Battle Dress Uniform, a gunmetal grey short-sleeved uniform shirt and military cargo pants. He also had a cap fastened on his head. It was nearly midnight, and after nearly seven hours of conrinuous fighting, there had been a rather unusual - and frankly, creepy - cease-fire.

It was pretty unusual to see the robots retreating while he was in the cockpit of his M808B. He fought at Malificent, he saw the tin cans keep coming and coming and coming...The question was why now would they just turn tail and run?

Fulsome realized the answer that formed in a cloud of cigarette smoke:

_Machines only do what they're told_.

So they were pulled back on purpose..._why_?!

Lionel knew the score, his men were just a distraction, a goddamned diversion from the real assault that was going on downstairs. He stared up at the cruisers which were just _floating there_. They haven't moved a single inch since the fighting ended nearly forty-five minutes ago. That's what scared the forty-three year old colonel.

It was impossible to contact the squads that were fighting belowdecks. Too much steel, wiring and intereference from the cruiser's systems in an attempt to keep them from talking to one another. He had gotten a small ping from them just after the doors in the ship's fuselage opened up and spewed out a _fuckin' battlegroup_!

Ah it was useless. Being a religious man, Fulsome believed _that_ song and dance was out of his hands now. His main priority was to keep his men alive and bring each of them home...alive or otherwise. The Marines had set up a small Command & Control Center (Also known as the C-3) on the fore end of the deck. Two mounted Gauss cannons watched the entrance to the camp, and guards were rotated every hour to make sure that they were alert, not to mention that a full squad of Scorpions patroled the perimiters in groups of two.

What scared Lionel the most was that they weren't getting any support from up high, not even a fucking dropship! It was beyond him, political BS that revolved around the Admiral and the Royals, not meant for a groundpounder such as himself, but they could at least send some sort of supplies. It would be suicide to try and bomb the thing from orbit, at least until they could confirm that there would be no ramifications be it physically or environmentally. A ship this size possibly had sizeable nuclear arms aboard. Factor that into the hundreds of ships docked in the interior, and you had a potential nuclear bomb over fifty times as powerful as Hiroshima, air-detonated to say the least. The image was clear, the entire mountain range would be flattened and a hole about a kilometer deep would be carved into the land.

He needed to push this out of his mind. He had important things to do. he found a Marine walking to the mess-tent.

"Hey, Marine...got the time on you?"

The soldier glanced to his watch.

"2350, sir."

"Very good. Carry on."

Maybe it was time to turn in. There was a limit for everyone, even a Marine such as himself. He had been up since roughly two thirty this morning trying to get his tanks into position. The Scorpions were 66.5 tons of rolling thunder. They didn't cross hundreds of miles of desert that easily. The insertion team didn't know how good they had it right now.

Fulsome tapped the COM around his ear. "Lieutenant Hanks?"

"_I copy. Go ahead sir_."

"Get someone's ass up to take position as Chief of Watch. I need to turn in. Wake me up in five hours."

"_Wilco, I'll get on it_."

"One more thing: Fill me in on the patrol's status."

"_1st Echelon looking good. 2nd Echelon is running a little low on fuel, might need to rotate units, 3rd Echelon is green across the board but Uniform 4-2 is reporting some roughness in the treads, and 4th Echelon is A-OK. Don't worry sir, we have full coverage over this area._"

"Very good Hanks. Good luck out here."

"_Don't worry about us. Good night, Colonel_."

Chris stared Lee down. Green met steel gray. "I'm giving you one last chance, Marine. You can either throw your life away, or you can come back to the good guys.

For an instant, Chris could have sworn he saw some hesitation in what was once Thomas Lee. He still had some Humanity in him regardless of what Robotnik did to him on the outside. On the inside, there was still Free Will, the essence that drove Humans to do great things, such as spread among the stars. That didn't fade easy, not even through harsh torture.

But that fleeting moment was gone. "How can I trust you? You guys left me to die! I thought even Rico would have come back to get me! He fired his assault rifle. Chris instinctively sidestepped the barrage of projectiles and the bullets shredded a bank of computers into sputtering scraps.

"_So hard to get good hardware nowadays..._" Eggman said leisurely over the COM. That son of a bitch was enjoying every moment of this bloodsport, just as the Emperors did when they watched men duke it out in the ancient Collusiums of the Roman Empire.

"You think that I won't kill another man?" Chris asked. "I'll try to help him if I can but Thomas isn't human anymore! He's succumbed to your will! Lee! Snap out of it! This man promised you nothing! He has nothing with him that can help you! Your desiese is...incurable!"

Lee roared in rage. It sounded like someone was screaming into a flanger. The roboticized ODST charged at Chris who once again sidestepped and whacked the man with his assault rifle. He absorbed a small vibration but it appeared to buy him a few nanoseconds and in combat...that was the difference between victory and death.

"Hello!" Chris yipped. A knife appeared out of nowhere as Thomas thrusted across the Lieutenant's throat. Chris could have sworn that the blade snipped a few hairs off his gullet. Chris was up with his own blade soon enough. He drew the same Ontario Combat Knife he retained from training, stained with blood of many species and oil of countless machines, and made his own thrust and connected.

The blade sunk into Thomas' side up to the haft. Chris really worked it in there. Basic training told him that he could skew a man's vital organs in one thrust but then he realized that what he was fighting was not human!

Lee laughed and landed an open-fist strike to Chris. Vennettilli felt his jaw crack as he flew three feet from Thomas and skidded another four. He was surprised his jaw was even still attached to his skull!

Chris got back up with a small trickle of blood leaking from his temple. "Come on, Thomas...is that all you got?"

The fight raged on for another dozen minutes. Thomas had been well trained as a melee fighter. Had Chris looked into Lee's CSV, he would have discovered that Corporal Lee H. Thomas studied under _sensei_ Okaui Ashimoto, _founder_ of the Komenratu karate on Cataliona, a discipline that focused on melee fighting and katas. Chris had never heard of Komenratu but felt the effects head-on.

To Vennettilli, it seemed something similar to Street Fighting. Thomas was going for vital areas which was smart. Lee decided to forget about the Jugular and proceded to the Axilary veins under his arms. Knowing that these were major arteries, Chris scrunched his arms together to try to provide as little access to these as he could. He did not escape unscathed so to speak, his arms were slashed. They burned angrily but Chris held on, waiting for a good moment to strike at the ODST.

Thomas was giving all he had and it was frankly above Chris' level. Even when he slipped into Bullet Time, the ODST's reactions seemed to exceed his own.

_Machine precision_, Chris thought to himself with a thin-lipped smile. It was when the roboticized man knocked him down he saw his chance. It looked as if the man's leg muscles had been replaced by _pneumatic actuators_! Chris was no rocket scientist, but he knew that this piston system was driven by compressed air, and the pressure could be disrupted by the slightest laceration. but the metal foot that was now resting on his larynx was putting him under the gun so to speak.

"Guess I'm the one pulling rank now, huh El Tee?"

Chris slashed as hard as his arm could manage. The Ontario knife sliced through the actuator like a steak knife through tin foil. white gas hissed from the pipe and Thomas lost his balance. His leg was now useless and he growled on the ground. It sounded like metal scratching metal.

Standing over him, Chris sheathed his knife and drew his Desert Eagle.

"Wait..."

"Corporal Thomas, you are hereby relieved of duty."

BANG. The pistol barked once and an FMJ round entered the roboticized man's head, but it wasn't brain matter or blood that came from the exit wound but simple wires and scrap metal. A deep black oil-like fluid did puddle around the body though.

He had no remorse. Thomas had fired the gun first, he had engaged a UNSC soldier and by law, he was allowed the oppertunity to remove the threat. Thomas was a traitor. He didn't like traitors. He didn't like rebels, he didn't like Innies, he hated anybody who went against what had _worked _in the past!

Chris rested on a chair. He took off his hat and scratched his itchy scalp. The entire fight had taken it out of him. He also glanced at his cut arms. He looked like hot crossed buns! He had to push through the pain though. He didn't have enough dressing for all of them. He didn't like scars though; even after getting shot a few times he didn't like the marks left behind.

"_Not bad son. Not bad at all_."

He didn't know where the camera was but he spoke into space.

"Don't test me, Doc."

"_I urge you to reconsider your response, Lieutenant. You can live forever..._"

"You must think I'm a Class-A sucker huh? Here's my counter-offer: fuck yourself!"

"_Be that way you insolent little pup!_"

"Hallway clear!" A Marine called.

"Clear left!" Little asked with a shotgun in hand.

"Clear right!" Martinez reported.

"Copy" Sally said. "Sergeant Callard, take point."

"Moving up. Martinez, Little, move up." The Australian Marine said.

They exited the elevator, noting the two dead robots. "Our boy was busy." Jon said.

"No kidding. Stormtroopers were more accurate." Tails said to a few chuckles.

"Got a lock on him?" Sally asked, keeping her sight up to her eye.

"Yeah, but we don't want to run straight ahead. It might be booby-trapped."

"Got contacts." Little said. He was on a corner giving a slight glance over the wall. "Permission to engage?"

"Negative." Both Sally and Callard said. "We need absolute stealth here, Marine." Callard hissed.

Joe seemed a little crestfallen as he watched his contacts, a squad of robot grunts, shuffled out of the corridor.

"Move up, Marines. Stay frosty."

The phrase was millenia old, a staple line for Marines ever since the 20th Century. It rung in the ears of everyone, and they did indeed keep their eyes frozen open.

The team moved through the hallway, slowly moving towards the COM marker. Neural Interfaces were outlawed in 2761, because they were permnenant and killed the user upon removal, plus they were surprisingly expensive microcomputers. Newer, removable interfaces in the bloodstream replaced the older models. Every time the LT's heart beat, the implants lit up.

"_Good evening ladies and gentlemen!_"

Guns were up and wheeled around.

"_Did you _honestly_ think that you can sneak around and not get noticed anymore_? Ohoho!_ Special forces huh?_"

"Walked into another trap?!" Martinez exclaimed. "Oh fucking _fantastic_!"

"Stow that BS, Marine!" Callard growled.

"Sergeant! Incoming Hostiles!" Sally said looking to a motion tracker on her arm PDA. Dozens of red dots were converging on their location.

"OK, get behind me Princess. You are a high value asset, we can't have you hurt."

"Sergeant, I am _quite_ capable of this -"

"HEAT BLUR!" Bishop screamed.

There were several cloaked robots up ahead, barely visible in their Active Camoflage. They charged.

"Grenadiers up!"

Two Marines with MA/7203 Grenade Launchers underneath their rifles unleashed 40mm hell and blew away five robots. The others' camo generaters failed and they were mowed down by the other soldiers.

"Come on! Get moving! Martinez, Maybell! Take point! The rest of you protect the Mobians! Urso, provide rear guard!"

The Mobian Sergeant nodded and went to form the protective semicircle protecting Corpsman Freddy, The still-drugged Sonic, the unarmed Miles and the all-important princess.

"See anything, shoot it!" Callard roared. The ODSTs led the charge. The Cirlce of Death fought their way to the control room when suddenly, a little farther down the hall, someone shouted,

"GRENADE! SCATTER"

A cylindrical explosive arced over the Circle of Death. A robot got a lucky toss before his face was blown off. Time seemed to slow down as the grenade landed right in the center, bouncing in slow motion.

The following is an account of the thoughts of each of the soldiers inside the center of the Circle starting with Corpsman Freddy:

_'My medical school education, my distinctions, my life, it's all gone!'_

Sonic, now coming out of his drug-enduced stupor: '_Oh God that feels good. Is that a grenade?!_'

Tails: '_Oh my God...this is really it! I'm going to die!_'

And finally Sally, '..._Fuck it._'

She lunged for the cylinder, gripping the beeping explosive and with all her might threw it. Sally felt as if her arm was going to rip from her socket as she released the grenade in apex. It exploded in mid air, knocking a few men down. Her tender ears rang for a full ten seconds as the disoriented unit tried to find themselves. Unfortunatly one of Urso's men was shot. Just as he was going down he managed to squeeze off a full magazine saving another few men before letting go. The assault rifle fell from his hands and hit the deck.

"Tails! Gun!" Sally ordered.

Miles however was apprehensive. He didn't use many guns, much less ones that fired _bullets_. "I ain't picking that thing up!"

"Ugh! Sonic, you good enough for a weapon?"

"Hmm...as good as I can be."

Sally collected the gun, and quickly closed the soldier's eyes. With a practiced toss, she threw it to Sonic who caught it in mid-air.

Sonic racked the lever and smiled. "Now things get interesting."

After the last robot fell, the Circle of Death found itself three members thinner, all of them Mobians. It was having an effect on Urso. "Can we _please _get my men OUT OF THIS DEATHTRAP?!"

"Couldn't agree more, David. Marines! Haul ass, _pronto!_"

The men, not wanting to stick around here any longer grabbed the dogtags of their fallen comrades. Callard also placed a beacon on the bodies for possible Casualty Collection after the operation was finished, provided there was anything left of this crate.

"Come on, don't stall. We need to link up with the LT."

"No need, he's linking up with you guys." Chris walked around the corner with his Carbine in hand. "I heard gunshots, where's the fight?"

Sally hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "We left it broken behind us. Thanks for showing up Human."

"Hey, who the hell got you up here in the first place?"

"Sir!" Callard yelled. "Respectively, I don't think this is the best time for this horseshit!"

Chris looked to Callard and back to Sally. "Agreed Sergeant. We have to get moving, take point."

"Yes sir!" Callard said nodding. "UNSC Personnel, follow me! Royal Armed Forces, stay with the Princess!"

"First Lieutenant Christopher J. Vennettilli." Chris said offering a hand.

"Staff Sergeant David A. Urso." the bear said taking it and shaking it. "Nice to finally meet you, Human."

"Likewise." Chris noticed the bodies that were laid out by two masked Corporals. "Sorry I couldn't be here to save your men."

"I don't think it would have helped, sir."

One of the corporals with a thick Southern accent spoke up while straightening a corpse into a relaxed pose. "Hey, where the fuck are the robots man? They were Zerg rushing us left, right and center!"

Chris was unfamiliar with the term, but he assumed he meant that robots were coming all the time. "It's an ebb/flow sequence. Eggman assumes that he sends enough. When we defeat a wave, he has to call robots from other parts of the ship, giving us time to recuperate."

"Then why are we still here?"

"Doesn't really matter where we go, dunnit?" the other Corporal said.

"Tweedle-dum over there has a point." (They were dressed in identical clothing, complete with balaclava). "It doesn't matter where on the ship we go, Eggman always seems to find us. I don't know how."

"_Oh I don't want to spoil the surprise_. _You have five minutes, genltlemen. Move fast._" The Doctor's voice said.

"You heard the bastard boys." Urso said. "Let's hustle!"

"Any of the Freedom Fighters ever been aboard one of these ships?"

"I have." Sally admitted. "I haven't seen anything like this though. Sonic, you ever see anything like this?"

Sonic was still grabbing his side. Corpsman Freddy had elected to stay with the squad as he removed the shrapnel. He was there to make sure Sonic didn't hurt himself again.

"No. I don't have the stomach for running through Eggman's cruisers."

"Knuckles?" Chris asked hopefully.

"No. Can't say that I have."

"Alright, fuck it."

"Wait a second." Sally said, accessing her arm computer, inserting a small data card. "If Robotnik's ships follow a common floor plan, then locating an elevator to the bridge sould be easier!"

"Explain." Chris said stopping for a second while Sally looked over some older designs.

"You see, Eggman's ships follow a distinct pattern. The bridge is located in the back on the dorsal side of the ship, just like yours are on the front or midsection."

"So, in theory, the ships should be alike enough that you'll be able to get us to the bridge without incident?"

"That's the plan, yes."

"Alright. I'll take point."

"Gotcha." Chris said.

"And guys? No more Circle of Death."

Callard nodded wearily. "Yeah. Good call."

Chris shifted his eyes for a second and asked. "What the hell is a 'Circle of Death'?"

Sally led the charge. She had her Python out since she could hold it one-handed. Her PDA was uploaded with the schematics of a light cruiser, one that looked somewhat similar to the Flying Factory in design. So far, the floor plans seemed to be on the money.

"Sally? Where are we?" the LT asked.

"We're still a little starboard of where I think the elevator is."

"Better than lost..." Chris said as more of an aside.

"Hostiles left!" Little called. Three robots rounded the corner.

"SWATbots!" Tails called.

"SWATbots?"

Special Weapons and Tactics Automaton Unit, SWATbots colloquially. Robotnik's elite corp of robotic soldiers for protection. More costly to produce than simple egg pawns or berserkers, even more than the AC robots. These were originally an investment created by the Acorns more than ten years ago to combat the Overlanders before they were driven from the solar system, back when Julian was on their side. They were effective, used as a last resort option should regular armed forces prove ineffective. This was the reocurring case as the war went on. When Robotnik turned, so did the robots. That's when things got hairy.

"Yeah, those things."

"Well, what do we do? Can we shoot them?" Callard said raising his assault rifle.

"No, wait!"

One Marine got overeager. He screamed and fired a burst out of fear. The bullets made dents but suddenly, the same Marine started to shudder and yell in pain. The robots just stood at the other end of the hall.

"_WHAT'S HAPPENING?!_" Callard said running to his ODST.

"Microwave radiation! Don't touch him Sergeant!" Sally said grabbing his arm.

"Torture devices." Chris noted right away. Focused beams of microwaves could induce pain. Officialy they were illigal because prisoners would actually pass out or be reduced to vegitables. Some even died. _Unofficialy_ the Office of Naval Intelligence often employed them in their --quote--"Information Extraction Sessions"--enquote--

Right now though, the Marines found themselves on the business end of these weapons. If they tried to move forward, these juggernauts would unleash the invisible pain.

"Keep your distance." The LT ordered. "If we stay outside their range, we should have the ability to snipe them." Chris' eyes suddenly closed and he asked, dreading the answer, "Tails, what is the maximum effective range of a microwave beam?"

It wasn't Miles who answered, but Robotnik himself. "_Virtually infinite._" He gave a small laugh. "_Oho, the joys of physics! Think of it this way, the farther you try to run, the more I compensate the beam. I just narrow and watch. Actually, the closer you are, the less amount of pain you'll be likely to feel, that's the beauty of this technology and it is burned into every SWATbot's brain_!"

At this, the robots stood to. "_Orders doctor?_"

"_Keep an eye on them Commander. Hold your position and wait for further orders._"

"_Roger, holding position. Sir, what if they try to move?_"

"_What you did to that unfortunate young man, do to the rest of him. Carry on." _

A few minutes later, after appearing to be huddled in defeat, Callard smiled. "You _do_ know the wank just told us how to beat these guys, right?"

Chris and Urso nodded. "Yeah, I heard." The Human said. "I'm just not all for running against those many robots."

"Seconded." Urso grumbled.

"Well, we've got to do something. He may have moved the ships outside."

"No." The Mobian Sergeant said. "He has patience when he wants it. He's watching us, waiting for us to crack and run at them."

"How can you tell?" Chris asked.

At this, David gave a toothy smile. "Call it Mobian Intuition, sir."

"Mobian Intuition, huh?"

"You bet your ass, pinky."

Chris and Callard smiled. That was a new nickname. They realized that it denoted the fact that most humans had a rosy colored skin tone.

the LT tapped his holster. "How about we give him a show?"

"_No!_" Callard hissed. Chris was about to bite back when he realized that Jon wasn't adressing him as a NCO, but as the elder. "Then they'll just divide and conquer. We need to distract them."

"Plan?"

"We're the Officers. Well, technically _you_ are, sir." Callard said indicating Vennettilli. "We have a responsibility to keep these people alive. I've got a plan. Listen up."

They spent a few minutes in a tight huddle. Even the other Marines who were enjoying a few smokes were suspicious of what was going on. Sally was leaned against the wall, looking at the robots. _Damn, we're so close! If only there were a way! We can't run straight at them, we can't run away, and there's no way to get around them_!

A Marine offered a cigarette. "Smoke, Highness?"

Sally took a second to realize he was there. "Hmm? Oh, no thanks. I don't smoke."

The man shrugged. "Your loss. they're going fast."

The Princess found Tails and Sonic with Corpsman Freddy. It gave her a small idea. "Hey, Sonic! Why don't you just run up to them and..."

"...out of the question, Highness." Freddy shot back, threading what looked like a needle through Sonic's skin.

"Sorry?"

"He's unfit to run at super speeds at this time. If he tried, he'd probably rip open the stitches. I reccomend at least three days of bedrest before the wound heals entirely. I don't want him to bleed out 'till he looks like a rasin. I can't have that on my records."

Sally kicked the wall in anger, but didn't achieve anything but a sore toe "_FUCK!_" She roared, more in frustration than pain. "Fucking hell! We were so close! God damn it!"

Sonic sarchastically said, "Oh my virgin ears, such profanity..."

"Like you're a saint yourself, buddy." Freddy quipped.

"Easy with that needle, Human." Sonic said eyeing the medic with contempt.

Sally sighed in defeat. She started to walk over to the officers.

"_You, prisoner, do not move._"

"Take it easy, Number Six." she said mockingly. "I'm just moving over."

The SWATbots didn't seem to care. She kept her hands where they could see them and wandered over to the huddled group.

"What is the plan?" She asked with some urgency. "We're backed into a corner here, both figuratively and literally."

Callard made eye contact. "Well, we have been talking. So far, no good."

"You're not fucking with me, are you?"

"Why? You asking?" Chris asked.

Silence.

In retrospect, it wasn't the smartest thing he could have said, or the most rational thing either. The now red-in-the-face Lieutenant was attempting not to make eye contact with the clearly infuriated Princess. Her hands balled into fists, nails digging into her skin. she bit her lower lip but kept an even tone when she talked. "Lieutenant, can we talk?"

Chris closed his eyes and exhaled. He stood up and faced Sally.

"Look, I'm sorry but--"

He didn't finish. Sally landed a blow on his face that made the human reel back in pain. He collapsed on the ground with his hands covering where she hit him. The Princess shook her hand to try and get some of her own pain away.

"Ten points!" Sonic laughed.

"I deserved that, I deserved that." Chris admitted after inspecting his nose. It wasn't broken but a small trickle of blood came from his right nostril.

It was not the desired effect Sally intended. She envisioned the Human writing on the ground in pain, even sobbing slightly. The fact that accepted his punishment was even more angering than his comment. Oh well, time to remedy that. She offered him a hand. Chris glared at her suspiciously, but took the hand, and got back on his feet.

"Look, I think that we can--" He didn't finish again as Sally delivered a knee to the groin. This time, she could see in slow motion the pain that shook across him in a wave. Again, he didn't break down but he was not livid.

"_That_ was a little below the belt, don't you think?!"

_Oh hell, he's making jokes now_!

"You're not even worth my time right now, Human!" She said. "You. Are. A. Pig!"

"You trying to make me cry, Sal?" Chris asked with a small smile. "Alright, let me have it."

Callard and Urso started to look a little nervous. "Uh, LT?" Jon started.

"No, no...let the lady vent."

"Much obliged."

WHAM!

Another fist across the cheek. "God, sometimes you reall just infuriate me, you know that?"

"I try."

SLAP!

A hand right across the other, a small red mark where she made contact.

"You have no remorse?"

"You bet! Come on, nobody here but us! No court martial in sight!"

"WHACK!"

Now spitting blood, Chris actually laughed.

She was winding up for another punch when Urso said, "Oh God this is making me sick! _STAND DOWN!_"

Sally relented.

"Feel better?" The Human asked.

"Yeah." She said. "I do feel better." She looked at her fist, which had a bit of Chris' blood on it. "I'm sorry."

Chris gave another laugh. Was he punch-drunk? He had his nuts kicked in, his face dinged, and his nose nearly broken. "Sorry? I told you I deserved it! The knee...well that seemed a little too much."

Even Sally smiled. In the background, the Marines relaxed. Sonic even stopped holding his breath. He thought a fight was inevitable.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Sally asked.

"Simple: You may have tuned me up, but I make it a point never to hit a woman."

Sally Acorn's respect for Chris Vennettilli returned.

"Besides the fact," He pointed down the hall. "if those SWATbots caught us fighting, they'd be on us faster than prison riot guards."

Suddenly, Sally's ears quirked. "Wait. What did you say?"

"I said if those guards caught us fighting, they'd be over here in minutes."

"_THAT'S IT!_" She actually placed her hands on her head she was so surprised with the solution. "We've got _to fight!_"

"Uh, come again?" Chris asked.

"Hurry, LT, hit me as hard as you can!" Sally said.

"Now I _must_ be punch drunk. You want me to hit you?"

She leaned in and whispered, "Listen, it's the only way to get those robots close enough to attack them. Their weapons will be so unfocused I'll bet we barely get a tickle. So..." She spread her arms. "I know you want to."

Chris crossed his arms. "I ain't gonna do it."

A weak facepalm. Sally then sighed and said, "You know, that's the problem with you! That's the problem with all you _fucking_ Humans! You're so apathetic! Is that what you did when the UNSC found the Covenant? Just let the Colonies _burn_?!"

"I--"

"Don't think I don't read in my spare time! You all left your own people to die! Did you do anything while your worlds were blasted with plasma? No. You did nothing! That's all you care about, yourselves! That's why you expanded into space so quickly. That's why you rooted out the rebels, _THAT'S WHY YOU DROPPED A FUCKING _A-BOMB_ ON HIROSHIMA!_ I was an idiot to believe that humanity was worth a damn!"

With an almost feral roar, the Lieutenant tackled Sally. While she was on the ground, Chris nailed her three times in the face. She had a small smear of blood on her lower lip. She was laughing.

"What the fuck you doing?"

"Just play along." She said almost in a whisper.

"Huh?!" Chris said, not understanding.

She grabbed his shoulders and tossed him. Vennettilli hit the ground and when he saw the SWATbot guards start to shuffle towards them, he knew the score. He got back to his feet and faced his "opponent".

"You're gonna wish you never fucking said that, Sal." He gave a small wink away from the SWAT Automatons. He then looked at Urso. "I bet you're in with them too, you bastard!"

"Sir...?!" The Mobian Sergeant was surprised until Chris give him the _play along_ sign. "Oh! Oh...how _dare _you you little monkey!" He slugged Chris across the cheek.

"Remember, it has to be real punches!" Chris quietly whispered. "Otherwise they'll get suspicious!"

So they exchanged insults for a few minutes giving several punches. Callard, either because he saw Vennettilli on his own or was simply feeling left out jumped into the swearing, fighting, fray. The rest of the Marines on the other hand had no idea what was going on. It was a four way wrestling match. By this time, the insults really started to sparkle. Sally actually let slip "Aye-Tye" in front of Vennettilli, a phrase that was very offensive to Italians. That earned her a boot to the face. Callard accidently said "furry" and before he knew it, both of the Mobians were taking turns punching him silly while he tried to apologize.

They were a bloody mess, no pun intended. Blood was leaking out of every oriface. Bruises covered their chins and hair was lying in tufts on the ground, but the plan was a success. Before anybody could get knocked out, they heard rumbles on the ground.

"_Prisoners! You will cease and desist your violent actions immedietely_!"

They didn't stop. The insults, still as strong as ever, caused the other two guards to come. Chris, in the middle of Sally's headlock said disbelievingly, "I don't believe it! It actually worked!"

"_I say again: Prisoners, I am _ordering_ you to cease and desist your violent actions immedietely!_"

Suddenly, pain.

The four Marines screamed in pain as the microwave radiation washed over them.

It was Miles who finally saw the plan in its beauty. The SWATbots had their backs to him as they were frying those who bought them time. It seems that some of the other Marines, Bishop, Little, Freddy, Knuckles, and Rico also saw the opening.

"Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Miles asked.

"Hell yes! We have to help them!" Rico hissed.

"Too right, mate." Bishop agreed.

Knuckles clutched an Ontario knife in his right gauntlet. "Alright, two guys per SWATbot. Move quick, and stab behind the neck. The skin is made out of a rubber polymer. Should part easily. Cut the red wire."

"Alright, alright!" Little said impatiently. "Let's move before they fry!"

Dr. Robotnik was watching the torture. It gave him pleasure to watch his Automaton Units slowly kill the Marines with microwave radiation. They were writhing on the ground. He muted the noise though. It was painful to listen, but all too satisfying to watch. He also enjoyed that little wrestling spectacle. The Humans really got their prosteriors handed to them on that one. The female, Sally, really knew how to fight. The Lieutenant on the other hand, what was his name, he was returning punches with disturbing efficiency, as if he was used to fistfighting people, even women. That didn't affect Julian though. He had killed many Mobians and even Overlanders on his rise. Men, women, even some children, but in truth, he always tried to avoid the last one.

But what was this? Zooming in just over the shoulders of the SWATbot, Eggman saw movement. Some of the soldiers were _climbing onto the shoulders of his robots_.

"_NO!_"

"GO! Climb as fast as you can!" said corporal Bishop.

Tails, being a little on the short side, couldn't get a good step-up. Bishop was sympathetic and helped him up.

"Come on, buddy! Grab the armor!"

He grabbed Miles under the arms and _threw_ him onto the robot. The fox, although stunned, found purchase and pulled himself up.

Meanwhile, Freddy and Little were already near the neck.

"Hurry up!" Freddy urged.

"Doc? Shut the fuck up!"

"Just hurry up and stab the son of a bitch!" This was shocking coming from him.

Joe slammed his blade into the robot's neck. Wires were cut and fluid started leaking from the holes. The SWATbot started to heave.

"_Alert, prisoners are attacking! I can't get them, augh!_" The SWATbot with Freddy and Little on it collapsed. The other robots started to turn and that's when the others struck.

Tails slammed his blade into the robot's neck. He worked it around a little trying to cut as many vital systems as he could before it went down.

"Work it in there boyo!" Bishop said, trying to hold on for dear life. The robot was starting to buck them off. "Careful, the other one's looking right at us!"

The robot with Rico and Knuckles was turning its attention. They tried to warn them, crying out that the torture fields were still on. Right when Tails started to feel the pain of the radiation, Rico destroyed the other SWATbot, the mechanical unit's corpse thudded on the ground. With two of the three SWATbots down, it was simply a matter of time. Tails repetedly jabbed the soft, rubber-like material until he hit something sensitive. The robot's head blew off and the body just stood there.

"Good job, kid." Bishop said patting his shoulder.

The survivors gave a small cheer. The Marines who were on the sidelines clapped and whistled. The victorious soldiers raised their fists in acknowledgement. Suddenly, Freddy's medic skills kicked in and at once he was at the side of his twitching superiors.

The gamble had paid off, but at a bit of a cost. Sally, Vennettilli, Urso and Callard had been in the middle of a three-way microwave oven. The beams were so scattered at that distance though, it was a slow-roast to death. The guys had been working fast enough to save them from nerve damage. Thankfully, they were not vegitables.

"LT? Princes, Sergeants? Anybody hear me?" Freddy asked taking out a small package of smelling salts to bring them back.

"Belay that, Corpsman." Chris groaned sitting up. He felt pain all over. He hurt like hell.

"How do you feel sir?"

"Feel like I've been dipped in burning water."

"Do you need radiation treatment?"

"I've sucked up worse.

Freddy helped Sally up. She was taking it more hard. She was actually shaking, her nerves must have taken a beating. "Highness? How are you?"

"I...I'm alright I think. Feel as if someone tied a string to every hair on my body and yanked it out."

The Corpsman gave her a quick look. Yeah, that would hurt.

"Don't you fucking dare ask how I feel." Callard asked a bit sluggishly.

Urso on the other hand was smiling. "Come on, that was just the hor-deurves, bring on the steak!"

"All callsigns nominal?" Chris asked.

"Roger." They responded.

Sally stood impressed. These humans had never seen a SWATbot before and took one down easily. "Nice job!" she said.

"That's how we Marines E.A.T."

"EAT?" Sonic asked.

"Examine, Adapt," he kicked the robot's head down the hall. "Terminate."

"Well, I'm stuffed when you put it that way." the hedgheog said. "There's the elevator."

Chris nodded. The Bridge was at the very top, and Eggman was there too. "OK, Marines! This is it! We need to stop that fleet! Everybody ready?"

"OORAH!"

"NO, NO, NO!" Kintobor said furious. "How could this happen? How the _FUCK_ could this happen? I had them right where I wanted them and they pull this shit out of _nowhere_!" He roared and stomped around his personal Crow's Nest. "Well, no more Mr. Nice Guy. If these boys want to play hard-ball, they better get ready for the big leagues!" He tapped in a command which would be beamed to the idle ships to move into position to destroy the 66th Battalion hiding on the Fore of the ship. Then they would ascend into the atmosphere to destroy the _Indomitable_. No reinforcements would come through the gate to assist. His own personal _blitzkreig_. He cracked his neck as he sent the message on its way. He sat in his padded command chair, poured himself a bottle of Merlot, and waited...


	28. Chapter 28: Meeting the Boss

Chapter 28: Meeting the Boss

July 3rd, 3234, 0056 hours

Flying Factory, Former Carson City

Times have changed. This was something that could not be ignored. The Corps have evolved, the combat had evolved, the Marines themselves have pushed forward. They had sometimes read in history books that sometimes Marines were sent into operations without much briefing on their location, their weapons or their enemies. Sometimes the enemy had the cultural or geographical advantage, like Iwo Jima back in the 1940s. But humanity made it clear that the role of their first line of defense needed to be upgraded.

For many hundreds of years now, NavSpecWar had been sinking money into educating their soldier better, transforming them from quote "uneducated vessels basically taught to hold a gun to a strong-minded individual that can adapt to any situation and extrapolate tactics to overcome the enemy." enquote. Within months of the implication of the order, life expectancy for ground forces all over UNSC space skyrocketed 250%. Much more ground was covered and soldiers familiarized themselves with enemy weaponry much quicker. The UNSC knew a lot more about everything, really.

Here we were, four hundred years later, and the UNSC Marine Corps had made their way into history, not just becoming the strongest fighting force in all of Human history, but also the _smartest_ in Human history. A platoon of roughly thirty men managed to make their way across half of this factory with only minimal casualties.

_And, _Chris thought, _we'll also be the most co-operative in _galactic_ history_. He knew working with the Mobians was a amart political move. They were not as advanced as other races in terms of technology. True they mastered the Alcubierre Drive, a concept that was only _theoretical _in nature thanks to the stupid ammounts of dark matter required to make such a thing possible,and the anthros simply had these Forerunner jewels that did the whole thing for them!

_Why couldn't we have jewels? Oh right...the Ark..._

He had to show these guys the Ark site when they got back to Earth. When he first saw the massive construct that he saw in history videos and school textbooks, he nearly cried at the majesty of it. Forerunner technology was so advanced, so incredible, that it had taken hundreds of years for scientists just to go through the Ark Portal, and they still had much more of the structure to go.

That brought Vennettilli to a horrifying thought: If Humanity was destroyed by a spacefaring race so easily, what if it eliminated the Sangheili if they existed, the Forerunners..? What if they _were _the Forerunners? What if they were the Flood? Were they still out there...?

"...hey, you listening to me, Human?" Sally said staring him down.

Chris snapped back into the real world. They were in an elevator car. He moved here without fully noticing where he was exactly. About a platoon of men from both Urso, Callard and Vennettilli's squad survived. Thankfully their radio operator was still breathing although their heavy weapons experts were down. His skin still hurt. Microwaves boiled the water in his skin, similar to what would happen if he was exposed to vacuum. Radiation was not the issue. As he stated to the Corpsman, he _had_ absorbed more rads when he sucked in a gas giant's Van Allan belt. Three of six men had died of either exposure or radiation. One was resuscitated.

"Yeah, I'm here." He said. The LT looked for a screen showing the floors. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the princess keying something in on her am computer. He read the code to himself. _Alpha, Niner, Sierra, Sierra, Tango, Fower, Tree, Zero, One, Six _(He was simply reading just letters and numbers A9SS-T43016). He recognized it. It was one of many drone recall codes. An 'Emergency Pickup' for some dropships as well. It was archaic, ancient though. Something like this hadn't been used for nearly a thousand years. He wouldn't have known though, since Mobians used different signal methods.

Were they about to get some support? He hoped so.

"Heads up, Marines!" Sergeant Taikof said checking his ammo count. "Thirty seconds!"

The tactics were so straightforward there was no way to get around it. The elevator was crowded. If they decided to toss a grenade, They would be reduced to bloody pulps. Hopefully, this wouldn't happen. The elevator entered a transparent portion of the shaft. For miles around, they could see the hull of the Factory, the surrounding mountain range, and the flotilla of vessels heading right for Colonel Fulsome's position.

"Guys! The ships!" Tails said.

The rumbling of the engines finally reached their tube. The vibrations shook their stance but they did not fall over. "Tails, best guess, what's the ETA of those cruisers on Fulsome's position?" the LT asked.

He ran the numbers in his head, many of them were estimates accounting for distance and elevation. "Best guess? Ten minutes."

"Can we get a signal?" Sally asked hurriedly.

The fox glanced at his PDA. "Full bars!"

Chris tapped his COM earpiece. "Colonel Fulsome, sir!"

"_Who's that? Identify yourself son_."

"Colonel, First Lieutenant Christopher J. Vennettilli, 182nd Div, 5th Battalion."

"_The won-eight-too? Jesus, son. You been watching our asses_?"

"Sir, we've been recieveing some assisstance from the Mobians as well. Sergeant Major Urso's team stalled the ships from proceeding."

"_No shit...call them out, son! I can't see anything; it's too damn dark!_"

Chris could only make them out by their engine exhaust. The icy-blue flames gave them away. He started to count them out. "one, two, three, four."

"Five." Sonic pointed out. He pointed to another perpendicular. He did have to point out the Mobians did have superior night vision.

"OK, Sonic, how many robot ship do you spot?"

The hedgehog scanned the vista. "I see fifteen total."

That raised a few eyebrows. One ship was enough. _Fifteen_ was _overkill_.

"Sir, fifteen drone ships are inbound to your position, I say again: fifteen drone ships are moving to intercept!"

"_Where?!_"

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"_Mother of God...You! Yeah, tell the Echelon teams to pull back! Where the FUCK is air support?_"

The COM snapped off.

"You think they have a chance?" Sally asked quietly.

"At this point," Chris sighed sadly, "I'm not putting too much money on it."

"_Attention, general order to all UNSC forces in the area, we are pulling back, I repeat, pulling back, Any and all foot-mobiles seek selter immedietely. Echelon forces are to pull back to base camp and await further orders. Any transports are instructed to burn hard and return for emergency evacuation. This message will repeat until further notice._"

"Lost the signal." Tails said.

"_You know, there was a story my Grandfather told to me_."

_Shut up. Just...shut up..._

"_He told me the story of how a hunter was chasing a fox. The fox eluded the hunter for many days, seeking shelter from the rain, until one day the fox was trapped on a cliff. Staring down at the forst, the fox contemplates how to react. The hunter, bow in hand, stands ready to shoot. The fox, unmoving, stares at the hunter, who launches the arrow into its side._"

"Oh Christ, make it stop." Sally groaned.

"_The hunter stared at the fox, who was bleeding all over the rock face. He asks the creature, 'Why did you not jump?' The fox, with his dying breaths, explains 'If I had, I would not have faced my true opponent. It is not a quick, painless death with no face that I seek, but a death I know will mean something. Either way, I pass.' He dies._"

"So what's the moral?" Knuckles asked through gritted teeth.

"_If you're not a fan of philosophy, don't go fox hunting! OHOHOHO!_"

The elevator slid open.

"Move! Go!" Chris breathed quietly. "You three, go left, you guys go right. Everyone else, get ready to move up center."

The room was oval in shape. There were two levels, one of them covered with displays and a huge viewport. That was the Command Bridge. Then, he realized that they were standing on a gigantic hologram projector. "Guys, this entire floor is the CIC."

"What's a CIC?" Miles asked.

"Combat Information Center." Callard explained. "Basically its where the fighting is really done on a ship. Usually they contain combat interfaces or a representation of an area up to a million cubic kilometers. I've never seen one this big before, not even on the _Majesty_."

"I don't like this." Chris said passively. "Too many balconies and outcroppings. There could be snipers. Hug the walls."

The Marines obeyed, staying close to the wall when a spark appeared on one of the men's breastplates. The soldier exhaled and fell to the ground.

"GET DOWN! FIND COVER!" He immedietely grabbed the fallen Marine and slung him over his shoulder.

Urso looked around and shouted, "SIR, THERE _IS_ NO COVER!"

Another sniper round was fired. This time, a Marine was nailed in the throat. He gargled slightly and fell on his face after gripping at the wound for a few futile seconds.

"I don't see him!" Sally shouted sighting her gun. She panned the ironsights all over the area and then, suddenly, she saw a flash of light.

_The scope..._

_CRACK_.

At first there was the sound of the rifle, and then the sensation that she had the wind knocked out of her. Then, before Sally knew what was going on, she was on the ground. Her head smashed against the steel deck plating. She was dizzy. The world was spinning. When she tried to talk, she could barely hear herself think.

"Ugh...guys?"

Suddenly, she froze. On her chestplate, a red fluid bubbled out of a circular hole. It didn't hurt, but there was plenty of it.

"Holy...shit!"

Then, she went into shock. Her head fell back. Before she knew it, Freddy scooped her up and placed her in his arms. She was light, just over 120 pounds, but with the armor, she felt more around 150. This didn't stop the Corpsman though

as he bravely dodged more fire. Quickly, Freddy looked for a spot. He knew the LT said _he_ didn't see anything, but being a medic forced your mind to think differently. Cover was the difference between life and death. To a medic, cover could be anything.

_Come on, USELESS! This place is bone-dry! Wait...there's an access ladder. I wonder if there's a manual access route?_

He sprinted over. A man took three bullets in the chest and collapsed. Based on priority, to his eternal shame, he would need to focus on the Princess. The man was dead anyway. He didn't even scream on the way down and Freddy saw the light leave his eyes. He slid and found the clamp. Lifting it up, he started to climb down the ladder.

The room at the bottom of the ladder was a Jeffries tube, a thin maintenance access hallway that stretched throughout the underbelly of the ship. He carefully set Sally down, taking care not to smack her head off the metal girders.

"The doctor is 'in'." he said with the sighing tone of 'well, here we go...'

The single sniper was joined by three other robots. They took up positions and started shooting. The shots echoed in the CIC as whatever cover there was to speak of was blasted with bullets. They had lost three more men to the snipers. Vennettilli still had the shocked man over his shoulder trying to look for cover. He set him down behinda slantin walkway which gave them minimal cover.

"You alright?" the young man asked.

"Yeah." The Marine responded with a gulp. he breathed through his balaclava deeply, feeling the spot where that bullet hit him. His armor was dented and the paint was stripped away where it impacted. "Thought my number was up for a second."

"What's your name, man?"

"Roberts, Cody, PFC, out of Knothole, sir."

"Just so we know...?"

"What? Oh right, Red Panda."

"Stunning." Chris said dismissively. "OK, Roberts. You cover my flank. We proceed up towards the snipers and pick them off. Two a piece."

"Gotcha sir."

The Human tapped his COM. "All units, Private First Class Roberts and I are moving to engage the snipers. Supressing fire, gentlemen!"

"_Roberts?_" Urso asked. "_You better get your ass back here in one piece!_"

"Um...Yes sir..." Roberts sighed.

Keeping low, they suck along the bottom of the walkway. As soon as the edge, the snipers were in view. They were not using the sniper rifles that the other robots were using, or the fifties (to their eternal relief). Instead they were simply modified Carbines like the one the LT was using.

"Aquired target?" Vennettilli asked.

"Affirmative." Roberts responded.

"Fire on thr--"

But Roberts pulled the trigger too early. he sent ten rounds into a robot but as soon as his shots cleared, three laser sights were locked on him.

"GET DOWN!" Chris roared, grabbing the Mobians's arm. He yanked Roberts down so quickly that he yelped in surprise.

"I'm sorry..."

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?"

"I said I was sorry..."

"Agh, fuck it!" Chris drew his Desert Eagle and fired three times in Bullet Time. His reactions spiked as adrenaline pumped in excess. The three shots were silent, the non-essential aspects of the universe rejected by his body. Each of the 50 caliber shots found their marks on the robots and they reeled, sending sparks showering in all directions.

"Vennettilli to Callard. Give me a status report. Can you see any more snipers?"

"_Thank Christ that's a negative. If I had, I may bloody well have been dead!_"

"Urso, take your man back. He compromised our position and nearly killed us."

"_Is that so_?"

"I'm sorry." Roberts said in a soft voice.

"You're sorry?" Chris angrily asked. "What is this, fucking kindergarten? Sorry doesn't mean SHIT! YOU _READ_ ME?"

The terrified Mobian nodded.

"Now get the _fuck_ out of my sight!"

Roberts nodded again and ran down the ramp.

Chris watched as the Marine ran. He instantly felt sorry for how he reacted to the young man. He was a couple years younger than Chris was. However, he did slip up big. If it wasn't for the Bullet Time, they'd both be dusted.

Freddy glanced at his antique watch. The gears twirled below the glass cover. He had been working on Sally for about fifteen minutes now. To get to the wound, Freddy had to strip off her combat uniform and her shirt. The Corpsman had taken anatomy classes in the academy so he knew what he was doing. For the most part, it seemed as if this woman's body was identical to a human's. Nestled between her breasts was the bullet wound, slightly angled towards her right breast.

Freddy took some surgical gloves and slid them over his hands. taking a pair of tweezers from his pack, he carefully inserted them into the wound. Sally gasped but Freddy concluded she probably had no idea what was going on. Shock could be a great anescetic, provided the patient didn't regain awareness during an opertation, that would stink. He worked it around a little bit until he found the bullet, nestled in her 3rd rib in the right. He was amazed the bone didn't shatter from the force of impact.

_Looks like 7.62 Maybe by 51mm. Carbine round. That would explain a lot. _Freddy carefully took an alcohol swab to clean the wound and sprayed some biofoam over it, finally wrapping some dressing around the wound. It would heal eventually, but she would be combat ready post-haste.

Chris dropped in behind him. "One of the men told me you were down here." His voice was even, but the Corpsman had been around enough Marines to tell that he was concerned. Hell, why shouldn't he be? One of his people had taken a bullet and was still breathing. However, there could be damage, like impaired breathing or a pierced lung. Lot of things could result from a bullet wound.

"She alright?"

"Got her stable. Bullet pinged off her trachea. one inch more to the right and it would have punched through her windpipe, and that wouldn't have been very nice. Combat armor saved her from most of it."

"That it?"

"That and a reinforced sports bra!"

The men laughed. It was Freddy's way of breaking the mood. As a Corpsman, he saw some...interesting things to say the least. The Princess was a minor case, not even major bleeding.

"Alright, let's bring her back."

He slapped her cheeks. "_Yoo-Hoo!_" The Medic said sing-song.

Her eyes blinked rapidly and her breathing returned to normal.

"Pulse is 120 over 60. Beautiful."

She looked around and soon her eyes locked on the Corpsman.

"Where am I?"

"Easy, Highness. You took a hit. Not serious, but unpleasant."

"AH!" She said trying to sit up. "Hurts like...I don't know what!"

"She alright?" Chris asked.

"First-time gunshot wound. You know that feeling, right?"

"Vividly."

Sally grabbed her midsection. "Where's my shirt?"

"Twenty centimeters to your right, Highness."

"Perv!"

"Hey, if I _didn't_ help you, you would have been taken by shock, then, Target on the Range" That was the "codename" for an incapacitated soldier in the battlefield.

"Highness, listen to the doctor!"

"Damn it, LT! I'm not a doctor, I'm a medic! I'm just lucky that her biology is similar to us. You show me a Sangheili, I'm fucking out!"

"Yeah, if you _could _get a Sangheili under a knife."

"Look! This isn't helping!" Sally said. "I can still hold a gun if that's what you're asking. Help me up!"

Chris and Freddy grabbed her under the arm. "It's alright. Squeeze my hand if you feel pain."

Freddy let out a silent scream as his fingers were crushed. The Lieutenant was steady though. She protested that she was alright to climb the ladder.

Sally was greeted by clapping Marines, happy to see the princess alive and well. She smiled to herself as even the Humans were smiling. She felt a pinprick on her arm.

"What the...!"

"Relax, just a stimulant." Freddy said. "Soaks into the nervous system. You should be feeling a little jolt."

"Yeah, I do."

"Alright team!" The LT said. "Pow-wow."

The Marines formed around their leader. Chris preformed a head count.

"Where's Sergeant Taikof?" the LT asked.

"He took a few rounds when I was running past." Freddy reported. "Dead before he hit the floor."

"Who's the next highest rated?"

Little stepped up. "Sir?"

"Congratulations Squad Leader."

Joe looked away in discomfort. This was unfavorable conditions for a pseudo-promotion.

"Split into two teams. Corporal Little will lead one team and I will lead the second. Freddy and the wounded party stay with me as well."

"I'm fine! Seriously!" Sally protested.

"Yeah? You and every other soldier that sucked up lead after saying that. You stay. That's final, your highness."

"I don't like your tone, Human."

"Don't dictate to me! I can still hit pretty hard!"

"Hey, did you notice how the walls curve like that?" Knuckles said, "I need this guy's interior decorator."

"Dictate?! How dare you! You're a dictator!"

"IT'S MY JOB!"

"Tell that to Taikof, to Blaustein, to everyone else who died!"

"_THAT'S ENOUGH!_"

He breathed hard through his nose for a second and then steadied himself.

"You have a deathwish? Sally, wish granted. Take Sonic and play Recon. Give her extra ammo."

"Wait, you're going to sent me up ahead?"

"That's the plan."

Sonic, Sally and Freddy moved up. The LT got sympathetic and ordered the Corpsman to go with him, knowing full and well that there was a possibility that the medic could be tagged as well. Freddy did not protest, but he was apprehensive without a full platoon guarding him.

"You think I was too hard on him?" She asked fiddling with her assault rifle.

"You should flip that question around." Sonic said.

"I agree." Freddy said.

"No, I mean, he did give me an order."

"Sal, you're a _princess_..."

"And that means nothing here."

"She has a point." The Corpsman added.

"Freddy, who's side are you on?"

"Well, yours."

"So shut up, I'm talking. AH!" a bit of blood leaked from her dressing.

"Easy, stress increases blood pressure. The dressing can't hold it."

Sally nodded. She realized she was going to have to calm down, not easy considering her current situation. With a deep exhale, she started moving again.

"You have them in your sights?" Chris asked.

"Don't worry, I see them." Joe said nestling his sniper's Oracle scope next to his eye. "They know we're watching them?"

"Maybe." The LT responded. "I don't send my people ahead without backup."

"Bloody noble." Callard growled.

"_This is advance party. Recieving_?" That was Sally's voice.

"I copy, Sierra Alpha. Latest findings?"

"_Negative sights. You can move up whenever ready_."

"Copy. If you don't mind me asking, what was that recall code?"

"_Can't discuss on open channels, LT._"

"Leaving me guessing? I get it. Moving up."

Shutting off the COM, he ordered his men to move up.

Stairwell clear!" Roberts called.

"Leftside, clear!" Urso said.

"Right, clear!" Martinez added.

"Area clear!" he then reported.

Maybell took off her helmet and scratched her close-cropped blond hair. "Bugger. That's a hell of a climb, Lefenant. How high is this place?"

"Best guess? Based on our current altitude of...I'd say a hundred feet, not counting sea level height, I would have to say this entire place is five hundred feet high."

"What would you possibly need for all this room?" Urso asked in wonder.

"Don't say that, Davy. Please?"

The process repeated. Sally, the Corpsman, and Sonic led the charge, calling out the location of any hostiles. They didn't find any though. Perhaps they hit one of those "ebb" period where robots were being called back. Maybe it was another ruse. Well, if it was, they wouldn't walk into it again.

"_Lieutenant, Sierra Alpha._ _We are at some sort of lift. Waiting on your position_."

"Copy." He turned to his men. "The way is clear! Move your asses, maggots!"

"OO-RAH!"

The hustle was good. the platoon triple-timed it to the inverted triangle that was the NAV point. Their advance scout waved them over. "Hey, over here!" Freddy called.

The Marines stacked up, despite the fact that there was no enemy...yet. "You sure that it's all clear?"

"Clear as daylight." Sally said.

_Cake. _

"Winston, Underhale! You two are on point!"

The two Mobians, both with matching balaclavae, nodded and ran for it. Underhale, some form of canine preformed an unnecessary combat roll towards a wall and smacked his head.

"What did I tell your dumb ass?" Winston quipped with a laugh.

"We're doomed." Chris sighed.

Up in orbit, Andsworth watched shocked as the small fleet of ships went to intercept Colonel Fulsome's men. The small base camp was alive as whatever pelicans were called in to ferry the men out. Tanks took futile pot shots against the coming drones but without AA equipment, they had no way to fight back.

"Esitmated contacts?"

"Wait one." Velo said calculating the ammount of radio signatures there were. "About two dozen, sir."

The Vice Admiral instantly said, "What are our hit probablilities for the MAC cannon?"

Lieutenant Jaffa typed in some commands and ran a simulation. "Factoring in wind speed and atmospheric drag, I estimate our chances of hitting _one_ of those ships to be 15.52%."

Not the answer he was looking for. Based on the image he was seeing, the vast majority of the ships were perched over the Factory. He just _couldn't_ miss because if he missed the ship, he hit the factory, and he _knew_ what those MAC slugs could do to in-atmosphere targets. Everyone on that ship would be atomized, and he couldn't live even _explaining_ himself to Max on how he killed his daughter over a 'tactical advantage'. Aside from that, the ships' AMS systems would shoot down any missiles blasted towards them, even though they would be speeding into the atmosphere with the force of a meteor.

"Pull back."

"Sir?"

"Shut it down. There's nothing we can do for Fulsome."

"Sir, the ships will intercept in ninety seconds!"

"Pull back, Mr. Velo."

There was silence on the bridge, punctured only by the beeping of the radar and computers on status reports.

"Aye-aye, Admiral, Thrusters on full reverse, heading zero zero zero by one eight zero."

Slowly, the surface of Mobius dropped from sight. Only the shattered moon remained. For a second, Andsworth was peace. In a few decades, the shards of the moon would form a beautiful silver ring around Mobius, but would dissipate a few thousand years later.

_I'm sorry Lionel_.

Tails looked at his scanner. "The _Indomitable_ is pulling back, accelerating to 700 kilometers above the surface.

"They're running?!" Chris asked, unable to believe his ears.

"Yeah." the fox said in a soft voice.

"What about Fulsome?" Sally asked.

The LT shook his head somberly.

Sonic let his head hit the wall. "Is it always like this?"

"Every single time. Sonic, a wise man once said that there was a distinct difference between a life wasted and a life spent."

"So which one was this?" the princess asked bitterly.

The surviving Marines looked out on the destruction.

"You honestly think that Eggman would want to burn his own ship?" Knuckles asked.

Charging levers made them wheel around.

"I plan to have a victory today, no matter the cost."

Doctor Robotnik was standing on a floating platform, surrounded by dozens of Egg Pawns and flanked by two SWATbots.

"Bastard! Again?" Sonic said.

"Throw down your weapons and maybe we can come to a...peaceful conslusion?"

"Yeah, kiss my ass while you're at it!" Sally growled back.

Eggman didn't flinch. In his hands, a streamlined pistol sat cocked.

"You know what this is?"

"No." The LT said, speaking for his team.

"This is a little invention that I like to call the X-CH-7 Energy Dissipator Weapon. It weights approximately three-point-four pounds and measures exactly thirty centimeters from barrel to hammer."

"It's not like you to carry a gun, Robotnik."

"Things change, Sergeant Major Urso."

"So, what's the plan, Stay Puft? You gonna shine that shit at us, or are your ready to-"

WHZZZAP!

In an instant, Urso was screaming. He was on the ground, back arching into the air. his clothes were signed, his armor burned away, and his fur was crisped off. His skin was deep red, burned in several places. His epidermus was toast, it include a rather crude pun.

David felt every nanosecond of it. He was screaming harder than he ever did in his life. Tears of pain rolling down his cheeks. the other Marines closed their eyes hard and didn't face him. Urso's screams became hoarse and finally, they stopped. When the soldiers opened their eyes, Urso was quite dead, his unseeing eyes opened wide, and his mouth frozen in pain. His skin was bubbling, melting off his body. In the background, Tails threw up.

Sally gasped in shock and her hands started shaking.

"What was that?!" Chris roared.

"The CH-7 Energy Dissipator Weapon is the closest thing that one can get to a ray gun. True, you can use superheated light as a weapon, but there are no such things as blasters or laser guns. Mostly I use superheated plasma, shaped by a magnetic bottle. This though," he said indicating the CH-7 "is something special. This gun utilizes the harnessed power of the Chaos Emeralds."

"C...can you do that?" Chris stammered, looking to Sonic.

The hedgehog shook his head. "I've never heard of it before! Tails?"

The fox bit his lower lip, looking for a proper scientific explanation. Not easy to do when looking down a dozen gun barrels. "In theory, one could do it using syphoning technology, rebuilding the crystals on a molecular scale, harnessing the exact particles using an incredible ammount of fusion technology. The power levels are stupid high though. Normally, you'd only find such materials in a dense nebula. Eggman created a shard of an Emerald from scratch. A clone if you will."

"Correctly summarized!" Eggman said with a smile. "If I wanted, I could crank up this thing's power intake and turn that entire wall behind you into molten metal."

"You're screwing with us." Callard interjected.

"You see what I did to poor David here?" Robotnik asked indicating the body of Urso. "What I did to him, I could just as easily do to you."

"So why now are you making this grand appearence?" Sally asked. "There were hundreds of oppertunities that you could have taken us in. Why?"

"Two reasons: 1. I've got you right where I want you. 2. Taken right from the Evil Overlord list, I have brought you to the point where even the famous Freedom Fighters couldn't stop me."

"We can stop you." Martinez said.

"Pah, you're just a small platoon of Marines, thinned to half your numbers before you even got here. I could just close my eyes, shoot and exterminate all of you before you could even cry for mommy."

"So what's your plan?" Sonic asked.

"You're standing on it."

"This bridge?" Chris asked.

"NO! Pathetic boy! The Factory itself! I can produce hundreds of ship here. Thanks to the moon being blown apart all those years ago, I now have a cosmic mining field. Beyond the gate, thousands more worlds ripe for the taking." A certain gleam appeared in Robotnik's eye. "And every step of the way, I have the Chaos Emeralds!"

"You have no idea what these jewels are capable of, Robotnik!" Sonic maintained.

"Listen to him, fatso!" Chris said, taking a knee, with assault rifle raised. He kept his finger off the trigger though.

"What do you think I've been doing for more than half my life? I know all about the Forerunners, I know about the Halo array! The endless treasure trove of technology and knowledge! The Flood!"

"But the Flood could be beyond your control. The Forerunners couldn't defeat it, and we stopped them because their fitcus of a leader called our bluff! They. Will. Kill. You!" Chris said.

"What's that supposed to mean? I will rule the Human race and take my place in the Universe as a god!"

"Oh, boy." Sonic said. "He's cracked. He's gone _loco_!"

Suddenly, the glass behind them exploded. A shuttle of some sort opened fire with a chin-mounted gun. It looked like...

"Is that the Falcon?" Chris asked in amazement.

"You think it only does diplomatic runs?" Sally asked with a smile.

The shuttle's gun sounded like a high hum. Shell casings dropped like rain, depleted uranium rounds cutting down robots like they were fiberglass targets on the range. Eggman got back.

"Shadow, come here!" He called.

The dark-furred hedgehog dropped from the rafters and landed on the platform, the device bucked slightly and Eggman hid behind the control panel.

"Take this Emerald!" He planted a dark red Mobius Emerald in his hand. Shadow looked it over and amazement.

"Doctor..."

"Keep it safe, Shadow. Together, we can bring her back."

"Who?"

"_Maria_."

Shadow's heart skipped a beat. She was everything to him, his world, his pain, his pleasure. He _died_ the day Maria had, brought down by a single 9x21mm bullet. Shadow remembered that day. It would be burned into his mind until the day of his death.

"Keep it safe, son." He closed Shadow's hands on the Emerald.

"Doctor...I will. I will."

Eggman saw that the Lieutenant had seen the exchange. "Oh hell no!" He said in disbelief.

"Kill them." The Doctor simply said.

Shadow brought up a pistol and squeezed off a few rounds. The UNSC sent rounds back in response. Shadow snarled and shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!" Then he was gone in a whisp of photonegative light.

The Falcon was hit with a missile. The ship started to spiral out of control.

"No! That was our only supprt!" Sally said. The drone shuttle dropped out of sight and exploded.

Chris ran behind cover and explained the situation.

"OK, Status report: Shadow screwed us!"

"What?!" Sonic asked in surprise.

"He played us like a used fiddle!"

"Wow, I feel so violated." Sally said with the air one expected after repeated blunders.

Chris' eyes shifted in thought. "Wait, you knew this would happen?"

"Shadow tends to surprise us often."

"What about 'the boy who cried wolf' bit?"

"Didn't expect it this time. We thought he was really sincere."

Bullets ricocheted off their cover of a wall.

"So, how do we get out of here?"

"_Been hoping you'd say that!_"

"Who's on this channel?" Callard asked.

"_UNSC Pelican Dropship Victor 101. Lieutenant Green reporting for duty!_"


	29. Chapter 29: Escape

Chapter 29: Escape

July 3rd, 3234, 0124 hours

Flying Factory Bridge

Former Carson City

"Green?" Chris asked in surprise. "You sonuvabitch! How the _hell _did you avoid getting pegged?"

"_AMS' been pushed to overdrive, LT. That, and Whiston's been preforming some miracles with the yoke!_"

"_Thank you ma'am_!" Whiston gleefully replied.

"Can you keep providing covering fire?" the LT asked.

"_Sure, for the next hour._"

"Make sure that you focus all fire on that fat bastard!"

"Um...Lieutenant, _what_ fat bastard?"

Chris almost dropped his jaw

"Seriously? He's right..."

Whipping around and glancing over his cover, he saw that the doctor was not on the platform anymore. Did he jump? No, no chance of that. He had the upper hand. The only thing Victor was shooting at was the robots.

"Did anyone see him jump?!" Chris said angrilly.

"Negative, LT!" Callard reported.

"Chris! I think he may have...teleported!" Tails reasoned.

That caught Vennettilli off-guard. Teleportation was a holy grail of quantam mechanics. The basic theory went that two particles could theoretically be in two places at the same time. If you could locate two particles that went to your particular location, you could actually deconstruct, and - for lack of a better term - beam yourself to said location instantaniously. Humanity hadn't even tried it, dismissing the theory as impractical, however, data had been transported a few inches, and as usual, it needed a stupid amount of energy. Chris hadn't the time or bravery to try and understand what R&D did. He barely understood Slipspace! 11 demensions!"

"Is human teleportation possible?"

Tails bit his lower lip. "Impractical."

_Boingo!_

"But...possible?"

"I never said it was _impossible_!"

"Gentlemen, I'd hate to break up this action movie conversation," Sally barked, "and as much as I love discussing the nuances of quantam physics, we have a madman on the loose, and Fulsome is getting his ass toasted!"

"Shhh!" Knuckles said. "You guys hear that?"

They did. It sounded like a subsonic rubling, as if something big was rising from the foundry. Were one of the Marines to look down, they would see the CIC center split in two and a gigantic robot emerging. This was some sort of flying platform, as large as a large civilian yacht. It was bristling with guns.

"_Alright you little runts! You want to play hardball? Well batter up_!"

Twin chainguns hummed a tune as thousands of rounds were sent towards the Marines.

Callard took out a bottle of scotch and took a swig. "Helps calm me nerves." He admitted with a nervous laugh.

"Pass me some of that, man." Chris requested. The Sergeant Major nodded and handed him over the bottle. Chris took a drag. "I don't know how we're gonna kill that thing! Somebody, give me a threat assessment!"

Martinez flinched as a bullet whizzed overhead. "Well, we have a fat _cono_ flying a manta ray-shaped VTOL approximately weighing...130 tons with very large chainguns. Approximately 10,000 rounds a minute. We move, we're dead, we stay, he eventually loses patience and fires a rocket. Odds of Survival: Minimal to Zilch."

Suddenly, the Freedom Fighters seemed somber. Chris knew the feeling. They were now in a real war. They were not simply kids breaking into the madman's fortress to save a forest or something. They were in an actual armed conflict. It was not a nice feeling. They hung their heads and didn't speak. Sonic couldn't run or else he'd rip open his stitches. The humans did the only thing that gave them comfort: some cycled their weapons, cleaning them, lighting up smokes, some showing pictures of kids, and some joking. Chris exhaled and ajusted his hat. Then the fire stopped.

"_Attention Marines!_" came Eggman's voice. "_I'm turning on the safeties for precisely one minute! I'm a generous man, gentlemen. I will offer you one chance to surrender. I swear, on the life of my father, Ivo Jugovich Kintobor, that I will not harm you._"

"It's tempting." Callard admitted. "I don't like it."

"My thoughts exactly, Sergeant." Vennettilli said.

"You know, if I had a nickel for every time he said that, I could buy myself a new lab." Tails chuckled.

"Fuck yourself!" The LT called.

"_You insolent little grunts! I'll show you what happens to people who oppose me -_"

Then he stopped speaking.

They saw what he was talking about. Across the night sky, five streaks of fire cut the air. Flames kilometers long stretched from space. They knew that whatever was reentering Mobius' atmosphere was intact, because all five of the fireballs altered their trajectories.

"_Hail humans. We are here to render assistance. This is the carrier _Spirit of Sangheilios_. Are you alive?_"

"_This is Admiral Gerome Andsworth, Commanding Officer of the UNSC _Indomitable_. Shipmaster, we have men who need assistance on the ship._"

"_I see their fire. I will send a detachment of warriors to assist_. _Are there others who require assistance?_"

"_I have a team inside, they need help._"

"We're here! We're right here!" Tails cried in desparation.

"We can't contact them! This is a simple _ad hoc_ network!" Chris explained.

"So?" Tails asked in defiance.

"So, we're just picking up their COMs. It'll take a few minutes to contact the Sangheili cruiser, just by altering our COM signals. Plus, shipboard COMs are much more powerful than these backpack models." he tapped the COM pack. "They can get through interference and jammers that we can't."

"So...we try a different method." Sally said digging into her vest. She retrieved a laser pointer. 'This was intended for sending messages the ol' fashioned way."

She took the pointer and shined it out the window towards what she thought was the alien ship. _Come on, baby. Open a window, look out there!_ She ignored the gunfire. The pain of her wound died down.

"_Hold on...Navigation console is picking up some form of light. Is it a targetting laser?_"

"_No, Shipmaster. It appears low grade, as if it is trying to communicate a message_."

The Shipmaster of the _Spirit of Sangheilios_ stood on the bridge with his mandibles clamped tight. He strode across the bridge, slightly nudging an Unggoy aside as he went to his communications console. A red-armored Sangheili stood there typing in commands. "Have you interpreted the message yet?"

"Working on it, Shipmaster. It appears that it is a form of Human communication."

"Which? Humans talk too much."

"It is known as Morse Code, a form of communication requiring both timed intervals, and visual contact with light."

"Translate it!"

"Working, Shipmaster. The message is short. Here is the Human script."

'S.O.S.'

"What does it mean?"

The ancient Forerunner script the Elites used scrolled across the screen.

"It is a distress beacon." The Shipmaster concluded. He walked back to his chair. "I want two Phantoms dispatched to that location to pick them up. Is there any word from the first group?"

"_Yes, Honor. We have recovered the Humans. We have lost many warriors in the attempt but they are secured._"

"_Shipmaster, this is Colonel Lionel Fulsome, 66th Tank Regiment, UNSC_. _I want to thank you for pulling me and my men out_."

"You fought with honor, Human. You will recieve aid from our...doctors..." The Shipmaster dreded saying the word.

"_Thank you Shipmaster. I'm just sad we're not all coming home._"

_A somber thought_. Another radio transmission was coming from a Seraph formation.

"_Shipmaster, we are under fire from the ships_!"

The Doctor's cruisers opened fire with purple plasma beams, not unlike their own weapons.

"Send the Human ship to engage them.

"_Copy that, this is the _Leningrad. _We're engaging contacts_."

"_This is the UNSC _Saratoga_. I'm backing you up!_"

Twin MAC cannons flared in the night and made contact. One glanced off a shield but the second punctured and destroyed one ship. The hulk bounced off the hull and fell to the ground.

"Human ships, hard burn and hide behind the _Spirit of Sangheilios_. We are in for an honorable fight today, brothers!"

The twin Phantoms cut through the fire, their pilots dipping and dodging the lasers cast by Eggman's ships. Their escort Seraphs were also barely holding on. One singleship caught some plasma fire and bloomed in a flower of purple fire.

"We will not survive the journey without assistance!" The pilot complained. "These Seraphs are useless!"

As if by magic, two strings of tracer rounds sliced through smaller drone fighters. Human C710 Longswords were now engaging the enemy. "_We got these boys. Proceed to objective._"

"Fight with honor, Human." the Phantom's pilot remarked.

"I think they got the message!" Sally said with a smile.

"What, you mean with all the explosions all of a sudden?" The Lieutenant quipped.

"No, I see two purple thingies coming towards us."

"Sangheili Dropships." Callard said.

"Should I shoot them?" The princess asked.

"Relax, they're on our side." the Sergeant Major said.

Chris keyed in his COM. "Victor 101, I need supressing fire on the Doctor! Make sure those Phantoms get here alright!"

"_Copy that, Lieutenant! Going Loud!_" The Pelican's guns spun and sputtered. Green's superior flight skills ensured that there was no way Robotnik was going to shoot them down.

Tails suddenly came to the conclusion. "We need to close the Factory's doors!"

"Well where are the controls?" Chris asked. Tails pointed to a console which was beyond the line of fire. To get there, they'd have to go _through_. "Well isn't that dandy."

Miles looked at him and shrugged. "It's the only way there."

Chris thought hard. This was a hard one. This seemingly endless onslaught of minigun bullets wasn't helping. He needed the best he had. "Miles, you're the tech expert. Sonic, you carry him."

"But my stitches..."

"You're not breaking any records. Don't you get it, you guys are the heroes again. Hack that terminal!"

For a second, Sonic's eyes lit up, the thought of his mantle coming back gave him that final masculine boost that he needed. "I...I'll do it. You want me to carry him?"

"Yeah. We'll give you covering fire and -"

POW, POW, POW!

Three conical pods landed in the bridge. They were still for a second but then the fronts blasted off revealing 8-foot tall armored warriors.

Tails screamed in surprise. "ALIENS!"

All of the Mobians looked on in fear and amazement. The Sangheili warriors roared in glee. They were finally fighting. However, some took a couple of 5mm minigun bullets. Their energy shields flared and they looked for cover.

"You, Human!" a red-armored Major domo gestured to Callard, who was closest. "Are you the leader?"

"No, he is." He said pointing to Vennettilli.

"What is this foe? Humans fighting Humans?"

"No time for questions, I need your help, Major!"

"I am Horo 'Ikaporam, Major of the Sangheili. I will assist in any way I can."

Chris nodded. "Green, get his attention!"

"_Anvil V primed, safties removed, Fox one!_"

A fat missile zoomed from under Victor's starboard wing and slammed into Eggman's device. The manta ray shuddered but didn't break. Eggman snarled in the cockpit. "_Was that supposed to hurt me? You'll have to do better than that!_" Twin beams of plasma lanced from the manta ray's wings and barely clipped the Phantoms that landed inside the Bridge. Unggoy gunners sprayed multiple bursts of energy blasts at the manta ray but none of them served to penetrate Eggman's shields.

The Phantoms nearly touched the ground.

"Pilots, hold your position! Act like a shield! I have men who need to get a job done!"

"_We will stay as long as possible!_" one of the pilots said.

"Go, go, _GO!_" Chris yelled. The two anthros left with Miles in Sonic's arms. The Phantoms did act as fire shields. It even seemed that Robotnik didn't even know that they were there.

"Careful, robots coming up!" Callard noted. A squad of Egg Pawns attemped to move up. The Sangheili lifted their Needlers and fired off pink-tinged rounds. They pierced the aluminum and shattered in a roseburst of pink light. The robots were cut down quick.

"Looks like they've noticed, here comes another wave!"

Heavier squad leaders approached with death heads. They had fifties in their arms and seemed much more menacing with combat protocols. The Elites seemed perfectly fine with this and charged forward. One unleashed an energy blade.

"Wow." Sally said looking at the sword.

They cut through the Pawns as if they were made of tissue paper. Metal limbs and plates arced in the air as the warrior tore them up. Apparently Robotnik was worried about them because the robot's guns turned on the Sangheili. The quick firing guns chipped away at the warriors' shields. When they depleated, the Elites began to run. One of them took too much fire and died. The others made it back to cover and roared in pain from the loss.

"I hope this prize is worth the death, Human!"

Sonic jogged through with Tails in his arms. They passed the first Phantom. Sonic tried to go faster but felt pain in his side, so he slowed down. The console was blocked by the second Phantom's shape. Excellent. Sonic placed Tails down and the fox looked for a way to jack in. He found a USB port and inserted a spoofer to gain access. When he was in, he started looking through lines of code to find the door control.

"Come on, come _on_!" Sonic urged.

"Shut up! This isn't an instant process!" He snarled as he typed on the keyboard. He was still sorting through code, searching, and searching for an algorithm that he could tap into.

"I can't find one!"

"What?!"

"I can't find a string! The code that controls the doors! It isn't here!"

"Oh you're shitting me!"

"No! Look!"

Sonic didn't know the first thing about computer algorithms so he pretended to act shocked when Tails pointed out where his line of code _should_ have been.

The mood was somber. Despite the amount of gunshots going off around them, they were now calm.

"Well..." Sonic said. "I guess we bomb the place then."

Tails balled his hands into fists and slammed them on they keyboard. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! WE WERE SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE AND WE LOST!" He slid down, sitting up against the computer and started to cry. Sonic tapped his COM.

"Go ahead." Chris said, loading another magazine into his rifle. "How's it going?"

"_We have a problem. It's mission-compromising, Human._"

"Please don't say that, not now."

"_I think we may have just failed._"

That made Vennettilli freeze. "...What happened?"

"_We can't find a code to close the door. It's still open._"

Chris bit his lip. The mission failed. He had failed missions before, but in this case, they would have to call down MAC cannons on this place. It didn't matter if they got off or not, but between the time where the fleet got into position to bomb the ship, Eggman could launch dozens more ships. There was no end to them.

"I guess he pulled the wool over our eyes. Got us to see what we wanted to..."

"_Yeah, you got that right_."

Then...the sun came up.

"Wait. _Maskerada!_"

"_What_?" Sonic asked.

"_Maskerada! _Tails, have you ever heard that word?"

"...Yes! Maskerada_, the Russian art of deception! Commonly used as a military field tactic, originating in the Great Patriotic War! Seeing what you _want_ to see!_"

"_So, where's this file?"_

"_Should be right where it was! He must have disguised the actual string and changed the format so I wouldn't notice! God, I overlooked it! That was a rookie mistake!_"

"Close that door! I want to go home!"

"_Copy! Working on it!_"

Tails tapped a few more strings until he was sure that he found it. There! It was nestled between two lines of code, when roughly translated out of hexidecimal, stated 'Everything I say is a lie'. Bingo. Tails highlighted the code string and told the computer to execute the file.

Red flashing lights and a klaxon sounded around the bridge. Everyone stopped and looked. To everyone's amazement, the giant foundry doors started to slide closed. With a quick cheer, they focused their fire. Eggman was done. They just needed to stop him from delaying the bulkhead closing.

The Elites really gave increased vigor. They charged over the barricade, not afraid of death. the Major leapt headfirst onto the small gunship and started to carve into it.

"_What's this? What's he doing?!_"

"On my world," the Major explained. "We hunt small creatures encased in shells of protective armor. _You_ are that creature, Human. _I_ am your hunter."

"_Get him off me!_" He started to swerve the gunship on its yaw. The Elite was stubborn though. He did not let go, planting his feet on the hull, continually stabbing. The other Sangheili roared in defiance and fired their weapons at the gunship. The Major found a missile pod and produced a plasma grenade. Tapping the priming button, he slotted the explosive between missiles and braced himself.

The explosion was powerful, detonating the warhead and blowing a good chunk of the hull off. Sparks sputtered from the damaged instruments. Eggman roared and activated an electrical charge along the hull of the gunship. The Major had what looked like a seizure and was launched off the ship.

"Major!" Vennettilli said. Technically speaking, the Elite outranked him. Hell, even these Minors were nearly equal in his rank. He dropped the gun and ran for the falling Elite. The warrior landed on the ledge, bounced once, and started to fall. Vennettilli lunged and managed to wrap his hand around the Sangheili's and pulled.

The effect was less than desired. The alien's weight pulled him towards the edge. Soon, he was staring down into oblivion. Five hundred feet to the floor, a further thousand feet down the bridge tower, and nearly another thousand for the entire foundry. It made Chris dizzy.

The Major, despite the gunfire, casually glanced down and didn't even flinch. He locked eyes with the young man. "Let me go." He simply said.

"Not on your _fucking_ life!"

"you cannot hold me, Human. I eagerly embrace my death."

"You Sangheili like honor? There is _no_ honor in this death!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed onto the Major's arm. Sonic was right next to him.

"This is a shock."

"Later! Pull!"

Callard came and helped out, then Sally. Soon, with all of their combined strength, they hoisted the Sangheili back.

There was a quick moment. "Thank you."

"Get back to cover!" the LT said. "Make yourself a small target!"

KERRUNCHH!!!

A battleship had been crushed by the closing bulkheads. it's hull was smashed halfway between the bow and stern. It was a distraction and it was a message. Their objective had been completed. Time to exfil.

"Any ship recieving this transmission, we need evac _NOW_!"

"_This is Commander Lutin of the UNSC _Saratoga._ I get your transmission._"

"Commander, we need an evac bird at these co-oridinates!" The LT said sending him the data.

"_That zone's a hot spot. We have multiple contacts._"

"Sir, request fire support!"

"_Lieutenant Vennettilli, please be advised, you are danger close, I repeat, your squad is in the immediete vicinity of the blast range._"

"We are losing men, sir!"

There was a three second pause between the transmission. The _Saratoga _was holding position nearly five hundred yards away.

"_Stand by for fire support, Lieutenant_."

The TAC officer was on the line.

"_50mm MLA Autocannons are active! Going loud!_"

There was a crackle of fire as the _Saratoga_ fired her anti-aircraft weapons. The rounds pinged off the shield. Despite the fire, few rounds were getting through to the actual hull.

Robotnik tried to fire on the Phantoms. A missile was launched and pounded into the left Type-52 Troop Carrier. The dropship detonated showering purple fire and chunks of alien metal all over the platform. Some Unggoy jumped from the wreckage, trying to get away from the fire.

The second Phantom fired all of its weapons. Eggman's shields flickered and died.

"We wore him down!" Sally said wit ha smile. "Grenadiers, up!"

Some Marines switched to their grenade launchers and fired at Robotnik. The explosives did damage the gunship and it was having an effect on Robotnik.

"_I WILL NOT BE BEATEN!_"

Chris tapped his COM. "Commander Lutin! Requesting fire support! Archer missiles!"

"_Copy that, Lieutenant. Paint the target for firing solution._"

He patted his body. "Shit! Laser designator! I don't have a designator." He called to his squad, "Hey, anybody have a designator?"

Bishop, who was blind firing, nodded and reached into an ammo pack. "Send this bugger to 'ell, Leftenant!"

Chris took the small pointer-like device and shone it on the manta ray. "Designating Target, awaiting acknowlegdement."

Ten seconds passed. A Marine was killed by the gunship's guns. He seemed to dance as bullets impacted his body.

"_Target recieved, transferring to Tactical._"

"_Roger sir! Archer missile pods Foxtrot and Echo are active! Firing!_"

Rapid thumps filled the air as the _Saratoga's _Archer pods launched three missiles. They arced in the air and sped towards their target.

"_You may have won this battle, but I asssure you this is not the end!_" There was a flash of light but everything seemed normal.

"_HIT THE DECK!_" Callard ordered. As the Marines did, the Archers hit the gunship. The explosion was large, a small nuclear fire. If the warriors had not taken cover, they would have been vaporized. The metal on the inside became scorched. Computer systems bubbled, plastic burned, and when the dust cleared, seven Marines were dead, four Humans, and three Mobians. Both Elites survived and the vast majority of the Unggoy.

The Grunts barked in surprise as they noticed they were still alive yet expressed sadness when they encountered their brethren, burned by the air, killed by debris, and destroyed when methane in their tanks exploded. "Objective accomplished!" Little said. "Enemy neutrilized!"

Chris got up, slightly burned on his face, much like getting burnt by an oven. It wasn't hurting yet, but the faster he got some ointment on it, the better. "Let's get out of here! Thunder's about to come down!" He reached the princess who was just getting up. "Alright, Highness?"

"I feel baked."

"It's like a furnace in here." Chris admitted. "Come on. Where the hell are our dropships, people?"

"Pulled out before those missiles hit!" Roberts admitted. "They're somehere around, yeah, here they are."

The pelican reentered the bridge and twirled, presenting its troop bay, which slid open. The Crew Chief immedietely braced himself from the heat. "_Whoa_! Somebody turn up the temperature in here?" He then looked around. "Orbital bombardment is to commence in fifteen minutes! We need to get to high orbit!"

The Mobians boarded. Some recieved a hand from the Crew Chief. "Watch yourself, Highness." he said as he helped her up. Then the Humans got on board. "Hold up, I don't have any more room. We can take the Sangheili but the Unggoy have to go up in the Phantom. Sorry guys."

One of the squat aliens muttered something along the line of "hating the little guy" before climbing onto the remaining Phantom.

Vennettilli climbed to the cockpit. "Green. Talk to me, are you damaged?"

"Baby's been scorched by some plasma but that's about it. Whiston had the wheel for the past hour or so. He's a good pilot. I think he may have a future, sir."

"Jeez, boss. You're making me blush." Halen said in an innocent manner.

The Crew Chief closed the hatch. "We're good. Take her up!"

"Attention all passengers, this is your pilot speaking." Green said over the ship's communications. "We are en route for high orbit. Keep your seats in the upright position and we'll have a smooth ride." She opened the afterburners. "You may wanna brace, LT." he nodded and seated himself in the troop bay, clipping his webbing on. "Opening throttle."

The acceleration of the pelican drove everyone to one side. They then climbed upward. "_Tally contact, round about ten, on our six_." Whiston reported looking at the radar. "_Wait one, Highlander 5-1 is coming to intercept._"

Out of the portholes, everyone could see that a Longsword Interceptor swept past the tiny transport, guns blazing. They didn't see the hostile aircraft but they knew that when these jets were on the prowl, things were going to go boom.

"_This is Highlander 5-1, engaging hostiles. Requesting any able wings to assist_."

A female pilot said, "_Highlander, this is Kingpin 7-9, moving to engage. Fox 2, Fox 2!_" Two missiles streaked past the pelican and another black plane flew past. "_Buy the transports time Highlander!_"

They were picking up multiple, frenzied COMs from other ships. "_The ships are still going! Intercept and destroy before they get to orbit!_" "_They will feel our fire!_" "_This is the UNSC _Bainsbridge_! Port nacelle has a fuel breach! Attempting to pull back for repair!" _"_I'm hit, I'm hit! Ejecting! God damnit...!_" All of it seemed to signify the same thing. Eggman's ships were still making a push to orbit.

"Boss, leftside!" Halen said. Green looked and saw a swordfish climbing into the sky at a similar angle the pelican was. Some UNSC areospace fighters were engaging. A dogpile of F-91A Pickets, F-29 Hellcats, and even some antique F-454C Harpies. Things were really heating up here in the upper atmosphere. Both the Pelican and the Phantom accelerated into the sky, the wind buffeting them becoming less and less intense. Soon, there was no wind and the stars were clear.

Mobius' daytime side was over the ocean, the bright sunlight reflecting off the water. It was beautiful watching the sunrise, despite the fact that many men were not here to see it with them.

"_Seal helmets, run diagnostics_." Green said placing a mask over her mouth.

"_Running diagnostics_." Halen reported. "_Life support nominal, holding at 1 atm pressure._"

"_Check thrusters._"

The Pelican flipped 90 degrees to the left, and 180 degrees to the right.

"_Thrusters nominal_."

"_Careful, Halen, we got some flotsam and jetsam all over the place._"

'Flotsam and jetsam' was an old wet-navy term that referred to debris that was adrift in the ocean. In space, the term held up, but referred to either asteroids, jettisoned trash from ships, or simply debris from a battle. Here particularly, it referred to the robotic ships. Several of the battleships managed to break orbit.

"_Any UNSC ships in the area_?" Green made a call.

"_The _Saratoga _and the _Leningrad _are in-atmosphere. There is a support corvette, the _John F. Kennedy_, as well. Wait one..._" He waited for a second. "_The _Leningrad_ was just destroyed_." he shook his head.

"_Any survivors?"_

_ "Went down with all hands._"

"So we have almost no support here?" The LT asked.

"_Hate to say it sir, but you may be correct_."

"This is BULLSHIT!" Sally said tossing her rifle across the bay. It fell with an arc that took it towards the airlock.

"I still get wierded out when I see that." Sonic said.

"_Cruisers coming about!_"

Five cruisers in tight formation turned to face them. Tiny snub fighters swarmed around them, making it seem like a mis-matched pod of fish floating in space.

"Evasives!" Chris called.

"_Roger! Here we go!_"

The Pelican rolled, five beams of plasma passed them. The Phantom also got the idea as it followed their lead.

"_Mayday, Mayday, this is UNSC Pelican Victor 101 requesting immediete assistacne, mayday!_"

The radio crackled.

"_Attention Victor 101, this is Captain Jan DuLand of the RSS _Dignity_. We are coming around in slingshot orbit with the _Darkwell _and _Nuremburg_ assisting. We will be there in five minutes_."

"_Ma'am, we are under immediete attack and heavy fire_."

"_This is Vice Admiral Andsworth. _Indomitable_ is en route to assist_."

"Thank God." Bishop breathed in relief.

"_Hang on! They're sending another wave!_" Green reported.

The beam was close. Too close. Oh no...

"EVERYONE EXHALE!"

"_What?!_" Tails asked, wide-eyed.

"_NOW!_"

A hurricane roared to life. The beams cut through the hull, unleashing a torrent of air as it was blown out of the ruptured hull. This was unlike what they had experienced on the first Victor on the warpgate transition. The Mobians clamped theur mouths shut, some trying to fight screams of terror. As soon as it began, it ended. Silence filled the bay. Marines and Mobians tried to move around, frightened.

Chris realized his eyes were starting to feel uncomfortable. The moisture was boiling. Desparate, he unclipped his belt and looked for a rebreather. His vision was blacking out, the 11-second mark was coming to a close. He found one and inserted it into his mouth. The sweet feeling of oxygen was back, but he realized that what he was doing was wrong. He looked around to the crew. Some had already passed out. Some were still fighting decompression. He threw another to a trooper who was atrting to shake a little. The rest, they needed emergency resuscitation.

The door slid open. A slight _woosh_ as air in the compartment decompressed. Green ran out to them. She had a helmet. "_Put this on! Hurry!_"

Chris slid the helmet over his head and sealed it. The uncomfortable feeling of his saliva boiling was gone as pressure equalized. Callard and his ODSTs were also fine due to their sealed body armor.

"_Get this hole patched up_!" Green ordered. She opened a floorboard and some flexible temporary hull plates were seen. She grabbed one. "_Come on! Thank Christ it's a small hole! Hurry! We have less than 60 seconds before they suffer from Asphyxia_."

They bolted the plate over the hole. Chris saw the blue orb of Mobius. It was flipping around which suggested that the robots were still firing at them. Halen _was _good at flying his bird, and streaks flying through the sky suggested that the UNSC was actively engaging the enemy. The plate was in place and Green went over it with a welder. The electric current from the vacuum welder liquified the metal and the lack of air ensured that it solidified quickly.

"_OK, repressurize this place!_"

There was hissing, and then sound returned. Chris went to his men. "You know how to revive a vacuum exposure victim?"

"Yeah. There's a med-kit here."

She placed a breathing device over Bishop's mouth. She made him inhale the pure oxygen, carefully assisting with the breathing. Within a minute, he was fine.

"Owh...that was painful." Bishop said.

"First time vac?" Chris asked.

"Yeah...only read about it before."

"It never gets any better."

They spent the next ten minutes reviving all of the victims. The majority of them were scared as most of them never experienced vacuum travel before. The ODSTs only had shocked reactions. "Didn't see that coming." Matrinez admitted.

"That's the thing about explosive decompression. It sneaks up on you, you never see it until it's too late. I've been in fifteen blowouts before."

"We didn't get sucked out?" Sonic asked.

"What like in science-fiction B-movies? It was either we died or we lived, no sucking, no exploding." Sally explained.

"That's comforting."

"Everyone's A-OK." Green reported. "Are you OK, kid?" She asked the other man who remained conscious through the experience. The Mobian removed his helmet and balaclava, revealing a rather stunned badger.

"It was the worst experience I ever had. There was no noise, I couldn't see, couldn't hear, only my breathing was there...I..."

"Relax. We'll get you some help, kid. Just relax."

Sally was rather calm despite her close brush with death. First time exposees to the vacuum of space did not often recover as quick as she did. On the other hand, she was a quick healer. It was a rough day for her. Poisoned by radiation, shot, and now exposed to vacuum. She had a bit of experience under her belt.

Tails on the other hand would have gone screaming all the way. He was young, 12 years old. Exposing a child to such conditions was not healthy to their developing psychological makeup. The Lieutenant hoped that this experience would not harm him forever.

Sonic, well, he was almost cheery. He had to respect the hedgehog.

Knuckles was just as tough as Sonic, so he felt that he had nothing to worry about there. At present, he was only complaining that the wind had messed up his dredlocks.

What infuriated Chris was the fact that Eggman somehow got away, teleporting himself from the battle, and the fact that Shadow had stabbed them in the back. Chris wanted to strangle him, snap his neck and leave him to die, and he had a Chaos Emerald with him. He could seriously do some damage with that, possibly funnel the power into a weapon or a ship drive, he didn't know what. All that mattered right now was that they got out of this bit alive.

The _Indomitable_ fired her MAC cannon. The 3,000 ton slug of depleted uranium passed through a cruiser. The robotic vessel shattered in a million pieces. Andsworth made absolutely sure that he was not facing Mobius when he fired his MAC. The tremendous ammount of kinetic energy transfer plus the fact that it was a stick of death spiraling at 4/10ths the speed of light did not sound like good bearing for the inhabitants of the planet. DuLand and her task force also engaged the ships. The _Nuremberg _had been destroyed with all hands and the _Darkwall _had suffered a battle wound ten meters wide at the stern.

"Sir, direct hit. Target has been neutrilized." Jaffa reported.

"Find us another one! Load another round, Lieutenant." Andsworth said with satisfaction

"Aye-aye sir!"

"Target located. bearing one seven five by two four nine at fifteen thousand kilometers distant!"

"Reallign so that we don't hit the planet, then fire at will."

The engines fired, pushing the supercarrier around so that their angle would not intercept Mobius.

"Firing!"

The lights on the bridge dimmed as the MAC round ripped from the cannon. almost an instant later, the representation of the cruiser disappeared.

"Target destroyed! Direct hit, sir!"

Suddenly, a bright light caught Andsworth's eye. Near the moon, a bright flash appeared. Then, dozens of green-tinted ships appeared on the radar.

"Multiple contacts. IFF confirms UNSC vessels."

The assault force had finally arrived, a bit unexpected. Dozens of ships, Human and alien appeared.

"_Vice Admiral Blake Geromi reporting. Gerome? We're here to finish your fight_."

The admiral had to smile. Missiles streaked from darkness and impacted on robot ships, and 50mm slugs cut through drone fighters. Out of the night, multiple ships appeared of every single class, holding position near the _Indomitable_. Each of them attacked what was left in orbit. plasma cannons, metal slugs, and nukes were unleashed, blowing apart the remaining ships.

"Point out the target." Andsworth ordered.

"Aye, Admiral." Velo said nodding. He tapped keys and forwarded co-ordinates to the _Senator_, the UNSC's flagship.

"_Co-ordinates recieved, Gerome_."

Ships angled, readyto fire.

"Synchronize coutdown." Andsworth ordered.

Some of the bridge officers were adjusting their caps, unbuttoning shirts. This was exciting.

As the 10-down commenced, Lieutenant Velo asked, "Sir, don't you think this is a bit overkill?"

"Lieutenant Velo? There is no kill like overkill. All Archer missiles ready to fire! FIRE!"

tens of thousands of missiles fired from the ships. streaks of exhaust almost looked coherent. each missiles created an orange reentry streak as they streaked towards their target. seconds later, rapid fireballs blossomed in succession, This continued for over five minutes as the ships launched everything they had. When the fireball cooled. There was nothing left of the Flying Factory but a smouldering wreck.

"_Fleet-wide report: target has been destroyed. I say again, mission has been acomplished!_"

"OW!" a crewman in the back cheered.

The applause began, and some whistling.

"Good job, ladies and gentlemen. Call back our drop ships. Pack it up, we're going home!"


	30. Chapter 30: Aftermath

Chapter 30: Aftermath

July 5th, 3234, 1817 hours

UNSC _Indomitable_

Mobius High Orbit

"Are you sure that there's nothing left?" Andsworth asked.

"Sir, we've run three scans on the valley. There's nothing down there larger than a minivan." Lieutenant Velo said handing him a report. Andsworth looked over the paper and saw attached pictures. Indeed, the blast site was littered with debris from the Flying Factory over a distance of up to five miles from Ground Zero. The area was slightly irradiated. Archer missiles were cleaner than your average nuke, but camp here for the next three months and you'd be six feet under in no time flat.

"What's the final casualty count?"

"Final body count comes to over five thousand. Lost nine support ships. The _Saratoga_, The _Samuel M. Horus_, the _Beatley_, the _Incorruptable_, the _Sin and Redemption_, the _Morocco_, the corvette _Georgio_, and the Mobian ships _Kappazeta_, and _Alexander_."

"What a waste. We could have nuked the place from orbit and have been done with it." Andsworth said.

"Sir. With respect, I know you don't really feel that."

This actually caused Gerome to crack a small smile. "Explain."

"Sir, His Highness is your friend. You would have done anything else to keep her alive."

"Is that so? What about the men?"

Velo took a longer time to formulate his response. "They're expendable."

"Do you really think that? Are you not replaceable, Lieutenant? Should that console over there explode, cause you to catch fire and suffer a painful death, I couldn't simply have someone else in your seat and start all over?"

Velo's mouth fell open. He had served five years aboard the vessel and not once had the thought occured to him. "I...no sir. You most definetely could."

"Good boy. Remember, No matter what the Drill Instructors say, you're always going to have your chance to sparkle."

"So..." Velo said changing the subject. "Where are the survivors?"

"Debrief aboard the _Dignity_. The Insertion Team is planet-side recieving medical attention."

"It's been three days."

"They insist they won't leave until every member is in tip-top condition."

"Fucking noble."

"Dead on, Velo. And if you swear like that again, I'm breaking out a bar of soap."

"Starting to become a regular patient, Lieutenant?" Dr. Horatio Quack asked. He thumbed a tablet while entering the medbay. "My services aren't cheap."

"Just checking in on my team."

"Of course. You've been in here every day checking in on them. Give it a break big guy."

"A great military man named Captain James Cutter said, 'Get to know your men, and they'll give you 200% when the time comes."

"And that statement makes sense but I'd hazard to guess that Captain Cutter didn't continue to visit the medical suite after being cleared of all illnesses."

"What did I have?"

"Nothing really. I'm surprised you never asked before." He checked on his computer. "Here we are: 'Minor stress to subject's femur,' possibly a high fall or two, 'first degree electrical burns around your wrists' and you sucked up enough rads to kill a rat. Er...an unaltered rat of course. Don't quote me on that."

"What about my team?"

"Hold your horses cowboy!"

"What, now we have animal puns all of a sudden?" Chris interupted.

"Ahem...as I was saying: Doctor/Patient confidentiality isn't exclusive to Humans you know. I don't give this information freely."

"Doctor, I am their team leader. I am responsible for their lives."

"Yeah? I'm _also _responsible for their lives."

"Don't go into details, just give me the lo-down. Please."

The Doctor grumbled and looked up on other members.

"Sonic suffers a slight infection from his wound, even with stitching he needed proper medical attention. Miles Prower suffered some small trauma after the operation, possible shock from the amount of bodies that were dropping. Sally was a real piece of work: Taking a bullet wound to the chest - your medic removed that, nice job - absorbing at least three hundred rems and still _walking_, let alone fighting. She surprises me every day, Sal."

He scrolled down.

"Now onto the good stuff: According to the Colorado Medical Society guidelines, Sergeant Major Jon Callard suffered a Grade 2 concussion. Took us ten minutes to get him to remember who he was. That was fun. Private First Class Roberts suffered PTSD and is currently in psych rehabilitation. I can't give you a clear window yet. Bishop was hospitalized for extensive first degree burns and shrapnel wounds. Didn't even start bleeding until we pulled them out, and Little escaped with no more than heart stress." He closed the report. "Unless you'd like me to read it again?"

"That won't be necessary." Chris waved him aside. "Will you let me see them?"

"Sure. Right down this hall, They're all in one room on the left."

"Thanks, Doc."

"Don't mention it, kid."

Chris walked down the hall. The castle's medical center was as advanced as any on Earth. holographic medical interpretations of the body appeared, Vacuum/Oxygen balance, and automated gurneys and IV drips. doctors dressed in white coats and nurses ran from room to room. Chris also spotted some medical staff from the _Indomitable_. Survivors from the _Saratoga_, _Beatley_, and other ships were being tended to. He spotted the room and entered.

"Chris!" Tails said as he entered.

"How are you feeling, Prower?"

"Fine. The doctors gave me a few cocktails to help deal with what went on."

"I envy your integrity you know. Most kids your age wouldn't have lasted as long as you have."

"I've seen things I won't be able to unsee. People dying...blood...I don't even know what..."

The Human placed a hand on the fox's shoulder.

"Listen, just relax. I know you can never forget, but you can make peace."

"So says the athiest."

"You just need time. Three days isn't enough to work a compat operation out of your system. And you're 12! Holy hell!"

A voice came from behind, "Hey, don't forget about me." It was soft and quiet.

Sally was lying in a bed, an IV of anti-radiation fluid was being pumped into her body. According to the doctor, she was able to retain a level of radiation that would make her very sick. She had been hooked up for nearly two days when she started vomiting again when they hit planetside.

"Status report, Highness." Chris said standing near her IV.

"Giddy. Probably just the medicine. I can't believe we did it." She smiled and stared at the ceiling. "God, that was close." She was suddenly sad and looked at the Human. "We lost a lot of good people though." She numbered the casualties off on her hand. "Urso, the ODSTs, every man and woman that didn't come back. I've got blood on my hands, Human." she held them up as if to illustrate her point.

"Sal, I was the leader. If anybody has to feel guilty, it's me. Those men were under my control."

"Do you feel guilty?"

"I never stopped after Talahan V."

Sonic hobbled in. He had a crutch and a bandage around his abdomen. "So what happened after Talahan? You never told us."

Chris sat down on a chair. "Same as any war story goes. I had survivor's guilt. I wished I was dead as well, wasn't forced to endure all I had. It made me stronger though."

"What, impervious to death all around you?" Sally asked curiously.

"That was a side-effect, yeah. Could say that it hardened me but that would be incorrect. Talahan..._opened my eyes_ and made me see how sick the Human race could be. We really were bastards."

Sonic then said something that surprised Chris: "But you had to act. It was out of necessity to save people."

"You're...right...I don't agree with the UNSC's actions at the time but I did not question their motives. Those rebels had nukes, big missiles. I saw them myself. Size of a five story building with a small Shaw-Fujikawa drive core. They could have programed them to hit any planet in UNSC space and reduce it to a burning rock. They were dead fucking serious!"

He paused and remembered.

_Helicopter blades whipping in the thick Talahan air "Got eyes on the nukes, Liuetenant! We can blow them now and head home!_"_ The mission came first._ _"NEGATIVE! That's not our objective!" "Sir, we can end the war!" He was starting to lose patience. "We secure them, Sergeant! ONI wants those nukes!" "Forget Fukoma! FUCKING BLOW THEM UP!" "AND TURN IT INTO MALIFICENT ALL OVER AGAIN?!!_"

"Well, you know the end of the story. The UNSC captured Fukoma, and we declared the war over. Without leadership, the rebels fell apart, and the war was officially over."

"And _unofficially_?" Sally asked.

"Unofficially, there are still loose pockets of rebel activity all over that system...Eta Cassiopae? Hell, I forget all these places. That's the fucking problem with being a galactic empire, you forget the names of all your systems. Don't even get me started on the HD Catalogue."

"So you're still mopping these guys up?"

"Well, it's not my job anymore. That's...Fifth Fleet's job now. Navy can take care of that."

Tails shrugged. "So, what's next for us then?"

"Tails and Sally will be discharged tommorrow. I'll need to run another test on Sonic, but I believe that he will be fine for discharge as well, but again, I'll see."

"OK, you guys." Chris said to his surviving teammates. "Get a good night sleep."

"Chris?" Sally asked.

The Lieutenant paused right before the door, signaling her to continue.

"I...Thanks for protecting me."

"Sally, it was my job. I do it all the time."

"But, you went out of your way to save people."

"Sally, I didn't save people. I don't want to be a whiner, but more men died under my command three days ago than in my entire military career. Those roboticized ODSTs couldn't be saved, but all of our casualties were avoidable."

"Vere saved my life, Chris."

"And then he died."

"But that was his own choice, Human."

The Princess was right. Vere did die protecting her, giving Sally the split second she needed to survive. If he didn't, _she_ would have been the one dying from fifteen bullet wounds on the ground.

"Vere will be honored for his sacrifice. Hecks and Geri as well. I want you to know that we haven't forgotten about what the UNSC did."

"The UNSC needs to protect you. you won't survive on your own anymore, Eggman proved that."

"The UNSC doesn't seem like the watchful parent, more like the...supportive uncle."

That made the Lieutenant smile. "Well, we'll be supportive. Of course, I can't speak for the UN."

"Lieutenant, you have to let her sleep. I will be administering a seditive in three minutes. Please vacate the room." Quack advised.

Vennettilli nodded and left without another word.

"So, what happens now?" He asked back aboard the _Indomitable_.

Admiral Andsworth stood over the table with the mission report in his hands. He paced back and forth looking page after page. When he reached the casualty list, he shook his head.

"Well, you completed a mission, good job. I am disappointed that Robotnik was able to get away."

"Sir, he had some form of teleportation technology that we have never seen before, not even the nature of a Forerunner Transit Grid."

"Yes, I saw that in your report. We did not catch any signatures that we could track, which means he either found some cover or managed to use a method that does not give off exit emissions. Typically, a Forerunner teleportation gives off high Charankov radiation, sort of like an instantanious Slipspace jump. Makes you stand out like a nuke for a fraction of a second. We found nothing of that nature."

"Then sir maybe he was lost during transit?"

"Damned if I know for sure. Unless we have a body, we can assume't anything. We never found Cole, remember that."

"Yes, sir."

"I am also sad this was not a bloodless mission. I have reviewed several hours of footage and I have to say your team preformed admirably despite the bodies."

"Speaking of which, When is David going home?"

"The _Hippocratic Oath_ is preforming autopsies on the slain Mobian soldiers."

Chris looked out the window. One of those stars was the Medical Frigate filled with dead soldiers.

"Do we have a window of when that will be completed?"

"It's a long process. We had to get permission from the Royals to preform the procedure. We are also running radiological tests on Urso's body to determine what exactly killed him."

"Sir, it was a -"

"Yes, I know, a Chaos Energy-powered blaster. Disturbing. Doctor Hynemann sent me a photo of Urso's body. I don't think I'll sleep for a week."

"Does this mean that ONI has an agenda for the Chaos Emeralds?"

"now you know I can't answer that." Andsworth said. "Needless to say, Humanity now has to take responsibility for these jewels. They are both valuable tools and weapons, and we cannot let them fall into enemy hands."

"I understand, sir."

"I know you do, Vennettilli. You've preformed every task I've needed you to, lay your neck on the chopping block for the Freedom Fighters. Now that we're here, I guess I could reassign you to Fifth Battalion under Major Freidov Kaperski."

"Admiral, if thats your decision.."

"However, I think I like the way you handled yourself while on Omega. I think I may extend your position indefinetely."

"Sir, I will not object."

"Do you have any shred of humanity left in you?" Gerome cracked a thin smile. "You can say no if you want, but I imagine that you won't."

"I feel that I managed to learn some important lessons about working with aliens over the course of our mission."

"Good answer, and I don't think I need to mention this, but I know you like her."

"Sorry?"

"I ain't blind, and I sure as hell ain't death. You enjoyed your time with the Princess."

"Sir...I...made her a promise."

He nodded, interested.

"I said that no matter the mission, I would protect her, until my dying breath."

"You should stay, Lieutenant."

Chris nodded, acknowledging the Admiral's decision.

"So, what happens immedietely after this?"

Andsworth got up and paced around the room. "Lieutenant, we've determined that the Master Emerald is not safe here, not while Eggman is present. That son of a bitch is not dead. You know it, I know it, but the Admiralty won't buy it. I know it! The game plan here, son, is that we will move the Master Emerald to a new location, one where Eggman hasn't seen before. We're bringing the jewel to Earth."

"You're bringing to to Earth? Won't that be a teensy bit of a dead giveaway? Wouldn't it be easier to move it to a colony?"

"Usually it would, but Max and Alicia have insisted that it should not go far from their home. Originally they suggested that Europa would have been good. The moon has always been a place of worship for the Echidna. I'm not sure why. We are finalizing the location for the Master Emerald. It's going to Mexico, a Mayan pyramid. We aren't revealing the location just yet under fears that Eggman may have placed scanning equipment on the ship or something like that. Knuckles the Echidna is going to guard it. He sees it as his personal duty for the Echidna people. He's made the unusual request for you to come along."

That made Chris curious. "Why would he want me?"

"I am not sure."

"How long will I be going?"

"Again, I am unsure. I would hazard a guess at a few months at least."

"A few months in the jungle. That will be fun."

"You won''t be totally alone." He tapped a computer screen.

"The UNSC will be sending regular supply haulers to top you guys off and regular squad support. They aren't permnenant so when a problem comes, hope that it's on the day these guys are there."

"Thank you, sir. Is that it?"

"I believe so. Lieutenant I have to speak with Staff Sergeant Callard alone please. He is right outiside."

Chris spun around on his chair. Callard was waiting.

"You are dismissed, Lieutenant. Go get some rest. You need it."

When First Lieutenant Vennettilli walked out the door, Callard walked in. He stood at attention in front of the Admiral and saluted.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes, first and foremost, congratulations on your successful mission."

"Sir, Sergeant Chan's squad deserved a better fate.

"Agreed. I read the reports and they were not nice. What happend to them again?"

"They were roboticized. Bloody bastard foze them solid."

"No bodies were recovered?"

"No sir. We had to leave them behind."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"At least we have Rico and Sheffield. Some of our men got back."

There was a moment of silence as Jon lamented the fallen Marines.

"Callard, what would you say if I asked if you wanted to do some wet-work?"

"Like what?"

"We need some intel on what Robotnik has been doing. Your dossier is solid, it shows me that you are the optimal choice for this job. If you can infiltrate several locations with your ODSTs, we will be able to discover certain things that will give us an edge against Robotnik."

"But sir, Robotnik's dead."

"I'm having a tough time believeing that, Staff Sergeant."

"Alright, assuming that he did, what would he have that's of interest to you?"

"Well, technically it doesn't interest me. The request came from Secretary General Francois Germande."

Callard blinked. "Secretary General Germande? He's on the Security Council!"

"And he was able to green-light infiltration operations among the ODSTs." Gerome smiled. "The UN is asking for your help, Callard. Brash and bold young men being heroes?"

"I'll do it. God help me, I'll do it!"

"Good man, Segeant! We'll get your team together and you'll recieve your first assignment within two weeks."

"This is what we trained for, sir."

"I know, and now you really put that training to use. Dismissed, Sergeant."

The hot air of the Central American jungle was almost humbling on First Lieutenant Vennettilli. He stepped off his Pelican transport reminded once more of Talahan. It was summer here, and the warm air calmed him down. He stared into the blue sky and the moon was up there, lazily drifting across the expanse, fully intact.

Behind him, a cargo container was carefully latched under the Pelican's tail. Inside the reinforced container was the hundred ton jewel. The dimensions may have been small, roughly four by three feet in size, but the density was outstanding. What was odd though was that when the Master Emerald was removed from the temple back on Mobius, it defied gravity. The Emerald refused to tip over. Perhaps it was a trick of alien technology used to create the jewels, but Chris found it unsettling when he first saw it hovering less than a foot off the ground. What was more, he could have sworn that there was a slight humming coming from the Emerald. Scared him shitless.

"Lieutenant, could we get some help over here?" one of the assisting Marines called. Chris readjusted his cap and went to assist.

The Marines had a special dolly that exerted a repelling force, something back-engineered from Covenant anti-gravity systems. They needed a little more pushing power. Chris took position behind the handles.

"Alright boys, push this thing to 11."

The output was cranked up and the generator hummed.

"Ready? On three!"

"THREE!" They all grunted, pushing with all their might.

The combined strength seemed to be enough. The Master Emerald seemed to move as they put their backs into it.

"Jesus Christ! Have you ever seen a rock this big, Utvich?"

"Naw, man! Largest I've seen was on my momma's ring. This bitch is huge!"

"Sorry. My name's Chesterfield. This is my associate, Corporal Banjamin Utvich."

"Pleasure, El-Tee. I'd offer my hand, but that seems out of the question."

"What they tell you about this thing anyway?" Chesterfield asked, curious. "They say it's magic."

Chris dug his foot into the ground and pushed, nudging the jewel a few more feet. "Well, it isn't magic, but you sure don't want to be on the recieving end of it."

"Amen to that!" Utvich said.

About ten minutes of pain later, they found Knuckles looking over the ancient Mayan pyramid.

"History intact is such a beautiful thing." he said to nobody in particular. He then noticed the three men pushing the Emerald towards him. "I've talked to the ONI operatives. They say this place will disappear. No amount of radar will find it. There are security cameras in several tree-tops, underground generators, they've plated some of the inside with Titanium armor, and a fully stocked armory. We're in for a nice stay."

"I don't envy you, sir." Chesterfield admitted. "I would go crazy cooped up in here."

"We won't be totally isolated. A UNSC supply ship will come by every other week or so to make sure we have all we need to survive."

"Be that as it may," Chesterfield said, not entirely used to speaking with a Mobian, "I still think you guys have the shittiest job in the world."

"If you were in my position, you'd understand." Knuckles said checking schematics off on a tablet.

"Why?" Utvich asked curiously.

"My people are warriors, through and through. The kings of the past asked us to watch over the sacred Emeralds. Single warriors are given the honor. Some watch the jewel until they die, and then they are replaced. I am the latest guardian. You could say I'm something of a warrior monk."

"Shaolin shit, man!" Utvich smiled. Chesterfield also cracked a grin. "I'd pay to see you in the ring, man."

"As long as you aren't fighting me." Knuckles said. "I'd give 25 to 1 odds on Chris, and that's me being generous."

Vennettilli snarled. "You funny guy..."

The inside of the pyramid was rock covered on all sides. The occupants had long been moved out, placed in museums to be viewed by history buffs and young children interested in the ancient civilizations. To Chris, it was all peanuts compared to the Forerunners and those who preceeded them, The Precursors. Who knew what other civilizations were out there.

"I thought you'd be unhappy with keeping the Emerald in a place full of technology, Knuckles." Chris said.

"Usually it's not something I'd like too much. Generally the Temples such as the one on the Floating Island are devoid of tecnological assets, something of a superstition that elevated itself to taboo by the Echidna clans. As long as the place we put it in is natural, I won't complain."

"Yeah, the Captain mentioned that in the mission perameters." Utvich said. "Said it might piss you off otherwise. Anyway, here we are."

The room was roughly rectangular. A slight indent was in the center, as if the Emerald belonged there. The room had a slight aroma of blood in it.

"This place is of ancient sacrifices." Knuckles noted. "Dozens died here for their gods to try and end floods and famines."

"What makes the Echidna any different?" Utvich asked, curiosity poking through again.

"Well, our god is right here." he said tapping the Emerald. "Are you willing to judge its power?"

"And get my skin liquified off? No way, no how!"

"OK, shut it down!" Chesterfield grunted. The dolly's power supply was disconnected and the Emerald stayed in place. "Woo! Good spot!" He said slapping his palms.

"That'll do nicely." Knuckles said. He ran his hand over the jewel. "Welcome to your new home."

"You talk to it as if it's alive." Chris noted.

"My people believe that the jewel _is_ alive, that a being lives inside of the Master Emerald, but I've never seen it or a ritual done by the elders."

"What sort of creature?"

"It used to be what we call Chao. They're likely extraterrestrial in origin, but we're not sure from where, and that one lives inside of the Emerald."

"What do Chao look like?"

"I'll show you later, but you won't believe me."

"Try me."

As the two men started to talk about the jewel with enthusiasm, Utvich looked at Chesterfield as they turned to leave and said, "I know one thing, I _sure_ am glad I ain't doing this job."

"I'll drink to that, man."

The COM terminal in the small living quarters served as a link to the outside world. The two were permitted to leave the structure of the pyramid but they weren't instructed to go far. A warthog had been provided _sans_ chaingun though. Chris used it to talk to some family back in Windsor, Ontario and Maryland. Now he dialed in the guys. The dial tone sounded for a few sessions, and the Miles picked up. The fox smiled widely.

"_Hey Chris! Are you settling in?_"

"Yeah, you could say that." Chris could see that there were in a skyscraper of sorts because of a window.

"_How's Knuckles_?"

"He loves it here. I'm telling you, I should have been buried much earlier."

"_It'll be over before you know it! Maybe we'll even drop by sometime!_"

"I'd like that, buddy."

"_Tails, who you talking to?_"

"_It's Chris, Aunt Sally! All the way from Mexico! Hey Sonic, check it out!_"

The Princess and Sonic edged into view.

"_Human. What's hanging_?" Sonic asked with the barest sense of a smile.

"I'm living."

"_Much to my despair_."

"I miss you too, Olgilvie."

Sonic pursed his lips in anger for half a second. "_I will ignore the jab because you are so far away_."

"I really do miss you guys. We've been through a lot, you know?"

"_The hell we did!_" Sally said. "_You guys were the first humans in a long time who weren't total jerk-asses!_"

"Keeping up the tradition. Listen, you guys have to come down and see this place, see what sort of hell I'm going through."

"_Maybe we will. Listen, we have stuff to take care of right now. We can talk later. Mom and Dad are coming to see us. I hope you understand._"

"It's all good."

"_OK, awesome._" Sonic nodded.

"_Take care of yourself, Human_._ Thank you._" Sally said.

"_Say 'hi' to Knuckles for me -!_" Tails tried to say before the COM screen shut off.

Chris stared at the shut-down screen. He realized he had the best friends in the world. Friends who would walk into hell with him and walk right out triumphantly. Friends who would always place the needs of the many before needs of the few. Friends who knew that win or lose, people would remember their names.

Then, that's when it dawned on First Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli. This was what the galaxy needed. Weapons, ships and political might was dwarfed by the majestic and power that was the value of friendship.

/Begin Entry/

_ The place is homey. Don't know if I'd ever set up a summer house here but I like the heat and it does have a lot of history. Maybe I can persuade someone to give us some leeway on exploration distance. I hear that there are interesting digs around here. Tails would love it here. He would cry from joy. The first _Annabelle_-Class hauler came in the other day, just hovering over the jungle. That was awesome as shuttles just dropped our stuff off. Not enough human contact, no offense meant to Knuckles. I've enjoyed being with him. I miss the city. I miss the ships. I feel as if I might go mad down here. _

_ But then I remember, the guys are supposed to visit in a week. I'm gonna give each of them a huge hug. Andsworth said that we'd all get medals from the Flying Factory but he never specified when that was. Well, I'm due to get some air in thirty minutes patrolling the perimiter. I heard the sunset tonight is supposed to be...beautiful. _

_ Maybe this place isn't so bad after all._

_ Maybe._

/End Transmission/


	31. Chapter 31: Epilogue

Chapter 31: Epilogue

September 5th, 3234

Castle Acorn

Mobius

"I had to pull some serious strings to get you back here, guys." Tails said walking through one of the castle's hallways. "Had to go through Andsworth who then had to go through the Admiralty. They didn't think he was so crazy when that Fortress showed up.

Chris, who was dressed in civilian clothing, set down a single duffle. Knuckles was right behind him.

"What happened?" The Echidna asked. "Someone die?"

"No! The exact opposite! Something is being born!"

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

Tails opened the doors to his private lab, where some of the guys gathered. Sonic, Sal, Amy, and the Royals.

"Gentlemen. Glad you could join." Max said extending a hand to both Chris and Knuckles. They shook it warmly.

"Thanks for getting us out of that Pyramid for a week."

"No trouble, no trouble. Though I must ask, who will be in place to watch?"

"They got a single Spartan to watch it."

Now, since the guys gained knowledge of the Spartan Supersoldiers through history packages, they could barely contain their excitement. Almost all of them gasped in surprise.

"Oh my…Spartans?" Sally asked.

"Oh, right. I forgot, Spartans nowadays are very wide-open to the rest of the UNSC, more of a miniature military branch. Poor bastard who took our place was…Chief Petty Officer Lyle-823, last name redacted."

"Spartans and Secrecy. Match made in heaven." Sally said crossing her arms. "Why didn't we get any of our people in there?"

Chris thought. "Rumor has it that the Mobians aren't fully trusted in the UNSC yet, at least with members of the admiralty board."

"Racism." Sonic spat.

"Unavoidable, you must understand, Sonic." King Max responded.

"Max is right." Alicia agreed. "Since the uniting of the Mobian people almost a thousand years ago, there have been racial tensions."

"Not to mention the training regime is harsh." Chris added. "Spartans have been in existence for over 500 years."

"Wow." Tails said, honestly surprised.

"I know. I mean, I've seen history videos where back in the 1940s, nuclear bombs were just being used and we were only beginning spaceflight."

"We know about that." Sally admitted. "Lots of early Earth historical records were aboard the colony ships so we wouldn't go insane and end up like the _Orphans of the Sky_."

"I'm not familiar with that book."

Tails sighed. "The theory that we would lose sense of the widespread of things, believing that the interior of the hull was the entire Universe. "

"Oh, that makes sense."

"But we are getting off-track." The King said. "Gerome was much too busy to join us, but we have a guest among us. He is due to arrive at any minute."

Chris saw the door slide open and a uniformed figure walked in. He wore a standard grey, long sleeved naval uniform but on his breast was pinned a silver eagle insignia.

"_CAPTAIN ON DECK!_"

The Mobians stood to salute. Chris held his hand to his temple, not even realizing that he was not in uniform.

The Captain smiled. He had a small downwards-curving moustache.

"At ease, Marine."

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Granted, son." He said chuckling.

"How could you tell I was a Marine?"

"Well you sure as hell ain't Navy, your voice is a little hoarse from yelling orders, and you ain't Army since you have enough wobble in your legs from microgravity exposure. UNSC Marine Corps if I ever knew it. Junior NCO?"

"Sir, I am First Lieutenant Christopher J. Vennettilli, sir!"

"LT? Aren't you a little young, son?"

"I was slated for Talahan, sir."

"Ah, nasty business. Glad to see that you got through."

"Captain Denheart of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Section Zero was invited to see what we have today."

Chris then noticed the All-Seeing Eye on his shoulder, the insignia for ONI. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable in the presence of a spook.

"Pleasure to be here, Highness. I love your world."

Max smiled widely. He accepted all of the compliments on Mobius he could get.

"Miles Prower has studied the larger structure of the Mobian Warpgate and has attempted to copy its design for personal use."

"What, like a Stargate?" Sonic asked.

Chris whispered to Sally, "What's a Stargate?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Precisely." Miles responded. "In Theory, the warpgate was designed for transport of all forms of matter, no matter how big or how small, from incoherent radio signals to larger starships, but in practice, it has strictly been used for space travel. I attempted to remedy that."

A string of mathematical equations scrolled across a computer screen. "I could describe to you the process of how to shrink down the aperture, but that would take roughly three days nonstop of talking. It took me a full month and many power drinks to deduce a solution. I also had three other scientists working with me on task for this."

"So, this will take us back to Earth?"

"No, this will simply show us a location. As you know, you arrived here on a one way trip, but we can see if the technology works in the first place."

"So, this has never been tested." Sally stated.

"No, but the math seems solid."

"Highlight 'seems'." Chris whispered to Knuckles who cracked a smile.

"I don't think you understand the majesty behind this Chris." Tails said walking up to him. Despite coming up to his chest, Miles was quite threatening with his mind. "Chris, on the other side of this portal will be a Mobius that we have never seen before. Endless Possibilities! There are Mobius' where Mobians never existed, there are some where Humans never existed, there are even some where Mobians and Humans simultaneously existed. Think of it, both species living side by side from Day One. Exciting, is it not?"

Captain Denheart was visibly pumped. "I certainly am, son. Turn it on."

"OK. Stand back. I _am_ creating a mini black/white hole here."

He keyed in several routines. The doorway opened. It was black at first, but then it gained more power. Multiple images flashed.

"What's going on?" Denhart asked.

"I never keyed in an actual destination. It's cycling and will eventually give me a random location."

"Prepare yourselves, everyone." Denhart advised, hands behind his back. "I'm not entirely sure what we will see."

"Seconded, Captain." Tails admitted.

Suddenly, the images stopped. Only one doorway was seen. The other side was blurry.

"Don't worry, it'll resolve itself in a second. " Tails assured. Then, something came through the gate that he didn't expect:

"_Resolve aperture. We want a clear picture of what's on the other side._"

"_Looks a little blurry_."

"_Don't worry, it'll resolve itself in a second_."

"What the hell was that?" Sonic asked.

"Probably reverberations from the portal. Sometimes noise can be tossed back."

However, the group knew whatever was on the other side of the portal was going to be similar.

"_Check signal strength. Fuzz should be clearing sometime around now_."

"Uh…yeah, the view is clearing up." Tails said surprised.

Then, they saw what was on the other side of the portal. They seemed to be staring into a mirror. There were Mobians on the other side. _They_ were on the other side.

"They're _us_!" Sally said. "But…they're shorter!"

Suddenly, the Sally on the other side noticed her counterpart. "_Is that me?!_" That Sally didn't know what to do except smile and wave. The opposite Sally did just the same. "Hi!" She said grinning.

"_There's no way to assume a stable crossing!_" The opposite Verse's Tails said.

"I concur." The preset Tails said. "Trans-Universal travel is not as power-efficient as you would believe."

Denhart stepped forward. Time to extend the hand. "Greetings!" He spoke slowly. "I am Captain Deheart of the United Nations Space Command!"

The opposite Sally stepped back. "_Overlanders_." She said alarmed. "_Kill the link. Don't let them through_!"

"We're not Overlanders!" Chris protested. "We're Human!" He noted that there was no _him_ on the other side. Freaky shit.

"_Human…_" the opposite Tails said in breathless wonder. "_They _do _exist._"

"_If they're us, why are they wearing clothes?_" The opposite Sonic asked.

Denheart spoke clearly. "We hail from the planet Earth. With the power of the Chaos Emeralds, we have opened a portal through space and time to-"

A red light began flashing on both ends. "Power spike!" both Miles' stated.

"Try to keep the link open!" The Captain demanded.

"And risk meltdown?" The current Tails asked. "You're crazy."

"ONI wants knowledge of trans-universal travel!"

"_Wait! You're from Earth! That's impossible, Mobius _is_ Earth!_" the opposite Sally stated.

"_Isn't it obvious? They know how to travel through the portals as well_."

"_Oh, Mobius. This is a nightmare_." The opposite Sally stated.

"Can't keep it open any longer! I'm locking it down." Tails tapped the kill-code and the portal dissipated.

"_Wait, we have so many questi-"_

Then, all that was left was an empty ring.

"What the _fuck_?" Chris asked.

"Well, that was interesting." Denheart said. "I was surprised it actually worked, Mr. Prower."

"Huh…? Oh, right! Sorry, still a little shaken up."

"I am glad to have my stamp of approval. Personal warpgate technology seems a few years off. I'll have ONI technicians come by to take a look at it in three days."

Max and Alicia walked away with the ONI Captain discussing what they just saw. That left everyone in stunned silence.

Finally, Tails found his voice. "Well, it's one thing to have it down on paper, but it's another to well, actually see it."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Chris admitted, leaning up against the wall.

Tails shut down the console. "The colliders are fried. It'll take them a few days to recharge. I hope Naval Intelligence can find a way to extend the power time. You guys might want to go. You'll be bored here."

Everyone left but Sally. She looked at the closed portal and walked to Miles.

"Hey, Tails."

"Hmm? Aunt Sally? What's up?"

"Were those alarms real?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't beat around the bush Miles. You built in that alarm so that Denheart wouldn't realize that this machine could run full-tilt."

"Are you insisting that I don't trust them?"

"I'm saying exactly that."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two.

"You don't trust the Humans?"

"I don't trust ONI."

Tails bit his lip. "Maybe I can run the machine for longer."

"Can you?"

Miles looked at her and nodded. He keyed in the operating command, selected his previous address and opened the portal.

Sally saw herself again, looking at the figure on the other side in wonder. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Hi. I'm Princess Sally."

"_You mean, we're Princess Sally_."

She chuckled. "Yeah. I mean exactly that."

"_I think I have a lot of questions to ask_."

"Yeah. Me too. I think we're going to be here a while."


	32. Trivia

SOLDIER'S LOG TRIVIA PAGE

**A/N: This is a special chapter I have made that reveals some hidden goodies that I slipped into my work! I might include this page in other stories I have written! Enjoy!**

Chapter 1:

-At the time I written this chapter, I had no idea about the end of the Halo trilogy. By Halo 2, the Cole Protocol would be defunct; I renamed the Cole Protocol a 'Cole Jump', which was a series of short randomized jumps to lose trailing ships.

-I accidently stated that Mobius had a 'Hydrogen/Oxygen' atmosphere. I hope that nobody down there smokes…

-In _The Story of Mobius_, the exchange between DuLand and the crew of the _Indomitable_'s crew was significantly longer to get the feeling of shock as a human vessel pops out of nowhere.

Chapter 2:

-I stated that the _Dignity_ was ¾ the size of the _Indomitable._ I have recently made a major decision to scale back Mobian technology greatly so that only a few ships exist. The _Dignity_ would be the largest Mobian ship created, measuring in at 3.75 kilometers and is atmospheric capable? I think a retcon is in order here.

-When it is noticed that DuLand has a Californian accent, English is still strong in the UNSC, but instead of the language on its own changing, numerous _sublanguages_ formed. Earth English is the dominant form of English.

-A universal adaptor is something made for foreign plugs.

-Once again another retcon because after a four year hiatus, I added more aliens to this universe and they were friendly with Humans.

Chapter 3:

-This is one of the few times that I reference the original Halo series. I do it sparingly over the course of the series though.

-Surprisingly, this short chapter was very important. I decided to write a whole story over the origin of how everything happened.

Chapter 4:

-Chris' monologue states that Earth was less green in comparison to Mobius. I actually infer that Earth still has forests, mountains and even glaciers while megacities are clustered in many locations.

-Chris' hair length is incorrect. I originally made this when I was in 7th grade, so I had no idea what the proper military hair length was. I later corrected this to stating that it was only two centimeters in length. 16 centimeters is in fact the regulation maximum for _female_ soldiers.

-Technically a Lieutenant Colonel commands a battalion. Chris being in command is simply out of convenience as he doesn't actually belong to the unit.

-I changed the weapons used by the soldiers because of the story taking place farther in the future. Will resubmit soon. The reason that weapons are similar is to still assure the reader that this is the Halo universe.

-The throne room scene is longer in my revised version. Will update soon, where the main characters have more interaction with one another, specifically Sonic whispering something strange to Sally concerning the Humans.

-The description that Overlanders are thumbless is a case of Did Not Do the Research. Overlanders DO have thumbs, but one less regular finger (even though they're sometimes portrayed with five fingers in the comics)

-Hecks, Geri and especially Kersiac are mentioned throughout the series because they were the first Humans (Chris included) that Sally knew personally. She remembers Kersiac specifically because he was the first Human to save her life.

-OK, I'm not sure why, but for some reason certain words are underlined. This will certainly be fixed in future versions.

-Again, I reference 'The Hive' which was featured in Halo: First Strike; another nod to the continuity.

Chapter 5:

-When Tails states that the Chaos Emeralds have 'always been here', he is referring to the fact that they weren't made by Mobians or even Humans. In my continuity, the Chaos Emeralds are extraterrestrial in origin, possibly created by the Forerunners or by someone else

-I changed 'Crossed Dimensions' to 'universes' in future works'.

-The testing of the Jump Drive engines are mentioned in _The Story of Mobius_.

-The Draco III massacre, Dr. Halsey, and Locklear's encounter with the emeralds are the fourth, fifth and sixth references to the original franchise.

SEVEN REFERENCE: Composition '7' explosive device used by Locklear.

Chapter 7:

-This is the first chapter that does not have any of the main characters in it.

-This chapter mirrors the scene stated in Halo: First Strike where Lieutenant Wagner is reporting to Admirals regarding the state of Reach.

-Admiral Hugh Redby makes another appearance in _The Terran Incident_.

Chapter 8:

-This chapter marked my return to the story after years of neglect. You can see an obvious improvement in my writing style.

SEVEN REFERENCE: There are '7' Chaos Emeralds

-The first interaction between Chris and Sally shows that it is uneasy; interesting compared to how their relationship improves over the years.

-The MDM Falcon is a shout-out to the Freedom Fighter Special in the Comic books.

-Sally's use of _capisci_ may or may not be due to the fact she knows Chris' heritage.

-Sally's outrage of the term 'Furry' is based on the use of the derogatory term that referred to anybody part of the Furry Fandom, where 'Furry' strictly meant the hard-core and strangest members.

-The mentioning of Lockheed-Martin, an aircraft manufacturer means that unless the company has broken up and reformed, it is around 1239 years old. For comparison, the Hioshi Ryokan hotel company in Japan is currently the oldest continuous operating business being formed in 717, meaning that it is 1292 years old.

-Tails references the Tornado in this scene but it isn't seen in the book at all.

-Heavy research went into the Longsword flying sequence. I downloaded a program specifically to help with accuracy here called 'Orbiter'. The Pre-flight checks are also accurate due to the fact that elevons, rudders and landing gear are checked.

-Despite the fact that he is in the cockpit, Chris cannot fly at all. Autopilot is doing most of the work, and he trusts Tails' piloting skills to keep them from plummeting to the ground.

-Likewise, the zero-G scene was also researched.

-Chris' question to hold your breath is bad advice for a depressurization. The better way would be to exhale before a decompression because oxygen won't rupture your lungs.

-This is Everly's second appearance.

Chapter 9:

-Sally's choice to join the military is not odd, as many royals have fought on the field of battle as well.

-Sally's question to Andsworth about a blowout is identical to Captain Jacob Keyes asking Admiral Stanforth in Halo: Fall of Reach

-Sally never did pay her bet losses.

-Robotnik's message to Andsworth stars the unofficial UNSC/Robotnik War

Chapter 10:

-Staff Sergeant Jones is a reference to Sergeant Jones from Halo 2.

-I thought of Sergeant Hartman from _Full Metal Jacket_. I had to think of the nastiest put downs I could think of, but I questioned the dirty jokes were too much here.

-Technically Chris is breaking protocol by speaking in slang to the King, but it's very brief, so it's likely Max didn't even notice.

-The appearance of M1 Garands is purely ceremonial. The weapons are no longer used in combat, only in drills and parades.

-This is the first time that we learn that Chris was in an Advanced Placement program. It is the reason that he is an officer when he is so young, when in reality he would only be a Sergeant at max.

-The Sergeant doesn't really sound threatening. Maybe I should hire and advisor…or R Lee Ermey to write military dialogue for me.

-Sonic's poor accuracy may be due to the fact that he dislikes guns in the first place, whereas Sally's high accuracy is due to the fact that she is the few Mobians in the Comics that wields a gun.

-Sally's boxing tactic is directly based on Sun Tzu's _Art of War_, '_All warfare is based on deception_'.

Chapter 11:

-Sally's insinuation at the beginning of the chapter foreshadows the future relationship between her and Chris.

-Vere's last words reveal that he was born in Croatia and he had the option to leave and took it.

-Chris' cappella was shattered when the bullet hit his kneecap. It had to be fully regrown.

Chapter 12:

-This is the first instance where Mobian government is directly observed.

-We also get insight on anti-human sentiment among the government.

-For all intents and purposes, New York should not be standing.

-I used Google Maps street-view to get an accurate idea of where everything was in New York City.

-The Egg Fleet is inspired by Sonic Heroes, which I drew many of Robotnik's ship designs.

-mSv is an actual radiation counter used to measure background radiation of an area.

-It's implied that Conditioned Awareness can be learned.

-HALO jumping has absolutely nothing to do with the games.

-To my knowledge, there aren't any Indian-style Sonic Characters in the comics. Allah Al-Mosheim has a clear Arabian background with her name, speech, and attire

-Sally reports to Vennettilli because he has experience. In a non-military situation, she would call the shots.

-Humanity has discovered oil on other planets, but smartly decides not to use it at all for fear of destroying the environment.

SEVEN REFERENCE: Seven Egyptians to lift the lid of the sarcophagus

Chapter 14:

-In the comics, 99% of humanity died from the bombs. In my continuity, 100% died on Mobius.

-Although mentioned in the games, an aircraft carrier has never been seen in action.

-VMFA-117 is a reference to Spartan 117.

-It is highly likely that Sitgmann and Douglas died in the battle with the Egg Fleet.

SEVEN REFERENCE: There are 52 Space elevators on Earth (5+2=7)

SEVEN REFERENCE: Pad 49 (49/7=7)

Chapter 15:

-The entire chapter was inspired by the Need for Speed series.

-The quote where an officer explains how Sonic evaded a barricade is directly taken from the first episode of Sonic X

SEVEN REFERENCE: The first chapter is dated June 7th.

-Regulation 28D-9 does not exist in real life.

-This is the only time in the series when Chris gives a UNSCMID. This is seen a lot in Halo: Ghost of Onyx

-Sonic reveals in this chapter that his shoes are vital because they protect his feet from incineration and friction.

-Thal 'Moram is the only Sangheili journalist that I believe exists in Fanfiction.

-The Kardashev scale mentioned here doesn't necessarily refers to a technological level, but energy availability. A Type I civilization can harvest a star. A Type II civilization can harvest many stars. A Type III civilization can harvest a galaxy. Our 2010 civilization is only a Type 0.72 civilization.

-The Gallvente are fully explained in the Galactic Codex

-The Windsor Star is a shout out to my home town.

-Robotnik is called 'Stay Puft' in this chapter. He is called this a couple times in the series.

Chapter 17:

-FIS Means Fellow of the Intergalactic Society

-I decided to name the Earth Emeralds Sol Emeralds, like in Sonic Rush.

-Physically assaulting a subordinate is grounds for disciplinary hearings. The fact that Sonic does not report this is simply an oversight on his part.

-Hecks' death is similar to that of Spock in Star Trek III where he dies of radiation and Kirk can do nothing to save him.

-The line 'until my dying breath' becomes a motif over the course of a series. Sally constantly states it to strengthen the promise Chris made to her.

Chapter 18

-I decided to give Sally a more realistic weight to increase her believability as a character. She is also 5'3"

-Mykonos was the original name for Apotos, a level in Sonic Unleashed.

-The way Chris can see a bullet is similar to seeing one in a high speed camera.

Chapter 19:

-According to this continuity, the ARK was an Overlander station, which is true to the games, but the moon's mutilation is unknown to the main characters, which is up to speculation.

-Code Hydra is actually referenced in Halo canon to refer to the Flood.

-Word of God states that Blake Jeromi did actually ram a ship, but I am not currently thinking of expanding that.

-Originally, I intended to have Chris fight Shadow to a standstill, but I felt that would be too Gary Stu, so I rewrote that Shadow kicked his ass.

-Colin is Colin Kintobor, Robotnik's brother.

SEVEN REFERENCE: The signing of the Mobians in the Alliance takes place on June 25th (2+5=7)

Chapter 20:

-This is the first time I elaborate on Dr. Quack.

-I still think of Horatio from CSI when I think of Quack.

-The language that the Talahan rebels speak is a combination between Spanish, English, and French called Talahase.

Chapter 22:

SEVEN REFERENCE: Chris is sitting in Romeo 7

-Joe Little was originally supposed to die through getting skewered by an assassin robot.

-The term Aggro refers to World of Warcraft and Army of Two, where attention is shifted towards one person or group so another can attack unnoticed.

-Jenkins and Alanko are shout-outs to Mass Effect's Private Jenkins and Kaiden Alenko.

-Sierra Alpha means, of course, Sally Acorn, but it also refers to Sonic Adventure, which is called Sigma Alpha by the helicopter pilots at the beginning of the second game as well as Paladin Team Sigma Alpha 2 from the Archie Comics.

-Green's co-pilot is named after a fellow writer that I very much respect.

Chapter 23:

-The ODSTs Spike and Rico are a reference to the comics; they are part of Paladin Team Sigma Alpha 2.

-This is the first time that I use Mechs in my stories. I have also drafted sketches of the Boomer, Wolverine and the Blackfoot.

-This is Jon Callard's first appearance. Jon Callard was a Canadian Highlander from Call of Duty 3 that I made Australian in my fiction.

-Chan's team were not extracted before the ship was destroyed. Without bodies, they are officially listed as MIA.

-A scene in here was taken word for word in a dream sequence of _The Story of Mobius_.

Chapter 24:

In addition to black dots, it is common to see flashes in your vision when exposed to heavy radiation.

-Of course, the immortal emperor is a reference to Warhammer 40K.

-Piercing a scope is very tough to do unless you have a very high-caliber round. The bullet is likely to disintegrate before it pierces the target

-We never see Team 4

Chapter 25:

-A 'lightwitch' is a nickname for a First Lieutenant

Chapter 26:

-The painting Chris sees is a parody of _Napoleon Crossing the Alps_ by Jacques-Louise David

-Robotnik's password is a reference to the Crush 40 song 'E.G.G.M.A.N.' in the lyric 'I will build my empire'.

-Freddy is the Corpsman's last name.

-Chris' fight against Thomas would be the first time he would fight his own servicemen.

Chapter 27:

-'Stay Frosty' is a term often heard in pop culture when it comes to Marines, first seen in 'Alien' where Corporal Hicks (incidentally sounds similar to Hecks) immortalizes the line.

-The Circle of Death is a reference to Red vs. Blue with the 'Parabola of Mystery' (Triangle of Confusion, Rhombus of Terror, Parabola of Mystery, JUST GET THE GODDAMNED SHOW ON THE ROAD!) but interestingly, and I had no idea about this, the Circle of Death is a drinking game.

-Sally's line '…fuck it' was meant to show her desire to get the job done even if her life was on the line. It seems like something she would actually do.

-Most Mobian soldiers wear balaclava. I seem to have an addiction to them.

-SWATbots are finally revealed in this chapter, but are far more powerful than their comic counterparts, and are outfitted for riot control.

-The SWATbot full title is the Special Weapons and Tactics Automaton Unit.

-Chris' Number Six reference is a reference to the hidden Cylons from Battlestar Galactica

-The Ontario knife is a reference to the fact that I live in Ontario.

Chapter 28:

-The Ark portal is referenced in this chapter. It is still under heavy study as it appears to be so vas.

-I tried to get Sally's gunshot experience as accurate as I could. I did research and found that the wind was knocked out of the victim before any pain set in. Pain doesn't even register until the victim is aware of the fact that they are shot. They then go into shock.

-Freddy makes a Doctor McCoy reference with 'I'm not a doctor, I'm a medic!'

-Chris' statements about Sangheili is due to the fact that being a doctor was a highly dishonourable position among the Sangheili

-Taikof's death was barely referenced and people wouldn't have noticed if his death wasn't announced after.

-I was hesitant about placing Urso's death as it was extremely graphic. Eventually, I decided it needed to be done to show the dramatic power of the Chaos Energy Weapons.

SEVEN REFERENCE: The weapon is named the CH-7

-The Evil Overlord Reference is mentioned.

Chapter 29:

-This chapter was written far before the game was released, but a UNSC ship named the _Saratoga_ does appear in-game.

-The UNSC _Leningrad_ is a reference to the UNSC _Stalingrad_ that appeared in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

-Most of the Sangheili characters have names of Elites from the Halo books since they are named after the regions on their planets.

-Actually, the Maskarada comes out of nowhere in hindsight. I was learning about in in my Communism in Crisis class and somehow it ended up here.

-I usually refer to the aliens by their proper names, as Elites, Grunts, and such are only nicknames.

-Since they were exposed for less than 90 seconds, those that passed out from vacuum exposure would make a full recovery.

Chapter 30:

-Chris mentions Captain Cutter from Halo Wars.

-Chris' flashback mentions Malificent, in which anti-matter warheads were used to blow the planet apart.

-Andsworth mentions Preston Cole's mysterious 'death' mentioned in Halo Evolutions.

-Chesterfield and Utvich are the only other Marines thus far in proximity to a Chaos Emerald.

Chapter 31:

-The Concept of the portable jumpgate is a play on Stargate

-Sally has read _Orphans of the Sky,_ written in 1941

-The universe that the jumpgate opens up to is the Mobius Prime universe featured in the comics. The characters are vastly different (e.g. shorter, lighter, true to their original appearances, pairings are the same, etc.

-Sally's distrust of ONI is revealed, foreshadowing future events.


End file.
